Afcon moved back to 2022
SEASONED net-minder Ronwen Williams has vowed to give his superhuman best for SuperSport United as he attempts to represent South Africa at three major international tournaments in a space of 18 months.
Yesterday, CAF announced that next year’s edition of the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) has been postponed to 2022.
The biggest showpiece in Africa was scheduled to take place in January next year in Cameroon but because of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has halted the qualifiers for the tournament, CAF were compelled to reschedule the showpiece.
Bafana are in the same group as Ghana, Sudan and Sao Tome and Principe. After two games, they have three points, beating Sudan and losing to the Black Stars.
The postponement of the Afcon means that the tournament will be played in the same year as the Fifa World Cup 2022 in Qatar.
That is something Bafana Bafana goal-minder Williams relishes.
“Playing the Afcon and the World Cup is going to take so much effort,” Williams said yesterday.
“The most important thing for us is to qualify. Qualifying for these tournaments is hard work. It is more difficult qualifying than being at the actual tournament. I would love to be at both the Afcon and the World Cup.”
Williams is the reigning Absa Premiership Goalkeeper of the Season. He has made the Bafana Bafana jersey his own in the absence of Itumeleng Khune. The 28-year-old performed with flying colours in the last Afcon held in Egypt.
The new SuperSport skipper was also drafted into the South African Under-23 Olympic squad as one of their three over-23 picks. Those Games have also been postponed to next year.
“That is something for me to look forward to,” Williams continued. “The hard work starts now.
“I need to show and prove that I’m still the best. I want to be part of all these major tournaments. That’s where you can challenge yourself against the best across the world. I hope to continue with my good form and get selected for the national team and play at these tournaments,” Williams concluded