Pair of hands, please!

Can Keet keep a coveted clean sheet, or will it be Williams?

your mistakes amplified more than your victories.

“I am very happy with the goalkeeping department, the way the guys have been training this far,” Arendse said.

“When it comes to selecting the starting goalkeeper, that’s not going to be done right away. Because they’re so close, we needed to give them this week’s training and we will also combine that with the opposition analysis – see where they are strong and what the opposition will do, how they play and how will they set up.

“That will also influence not just the goalkeeper but the entire starting XI. It’s important that we understand that.

“There are certain areas where we could say that one is ahead of the other one. For example, Darren is massive when it comes to aerial ability, Ronwen isn’t that far behind. But Ronwen is a good shot stopper, and has proven that for Supersport United. Darren, and even Bruce (Bvuma), aren’t far behind (in that regard).

“I cannot give you a name right now (regarding who will start), that’s the honest truth. I think that it’s possibly going to go down to the last training session.”

Bafana will have their last training session today in the match venue in Sfax.

Keet and Williams are evenly balanced in that they bring different qualities.

Keet is strong aerially, he is a good communicator who commands his box well. He is the most experienced of the two, having also had a stint in Belgium, where he competed for the No1 jersey with the tallest goalkeeper in the world, 2.08m-tall giant Kristof van Hout, who jointly holds the record for the tallest professional footballer. He started slow but Keet won that battle. On paper, he should start. But football isn’t played on paper.

“We’ve got to firstly look at who we called and why,” Arendse said.

“If you look at Ronwen and Darren, you look at consistency in the goalkeeping department; that’s why they are here.

“Those two goalkeepers, when you look at the clean sheets they have kept for their clubs this season, they are very similar.

“The way they perform for their clubs, very similar. They have done consistently well. It was a no-brainer to pick those two.”

Williams might not have Keet’s presence, but he is the more confident of the two and he should start in the match where Bafana need a draw to qualify for the Afcon.

The Supersport United goalkeeper now has a better understanding of what it takes to thrive in the dog-eatdog world of continental football. He led Matsatsantsa a Pitori to the final of the 2017 CAF Confederation Cup.

He believes that he needs one good performance to convince people he deserves to be in the national team. And this is a perfect platform to do just that.

The confidence he currently exudes will help him get over his biggest problem at Bafana, commanding respect from the defenders who tend to overdo things trying to protect him which leads to mistakes.