Bafana Bafana captain Ronwen Williams says the proximity of the 2026 Fifa World Cup is finally starting to sink in.
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This is after the Fifa World Cup trophy landed in South Africa on Friday and was presented to South African president Cyril Ramaphosa at a ceremony at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.
Bafana to face the hosts
Bafana will play the opening match of the World Cup finals against hosts Mexico in Mexico City on June 11.
The World Cup trophy is doing the rounds as part of the Coca-Cola Fifa World Cup Trophy Tour.
Williams was part of the celebrations in Pretoria where Ramaphosa said he hoped South Africa could bring the World Cup trophy home in a few months time.
“We are going to have it here at the Union Buildings again. I want to applaud you and wish you well on your journey to go and do battle in the United States, Mexico and Canada. We do have full confidence that you are going to bring the cup back,” said the President.
“It think it is finally sinking in,” said Williams later.
“There have been a lot of things in between. Now with the AFCON (finals) out of the way and getting a message from the President … we can feel it is close by. It was so special getting a message from the President. Now we know we can go (to the World Cup) with 62 million supporters.”
Bafana had a slightly disappointing Africa Cup of Nations finals in Morocco, knocked out in the last 16 by Cameroon, having finished third in the Ivory Coast at the previous edition.
‘Playing in the opening game is a dream’
“I watched the World Cup and to be part of playing in the opening game is a dream,” said Williams.
“When you look back at South African football in major tournaments you always speak about efficiency in front of goal.
“We have so many chances but from four or five chances we score one goal. The bigger teams get one chance and they punish you.
“We also saw that at the Club World Cup with Sundowns. In out last group game we had three wonderful chances and couldn’t take them. We need to work on our efficiency.
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“We would have loved to go further (at the AFCON), but it wasn’t to be. Coach Hugo (Broos) told us that it was going to be difficult, because all the big dogs would have learned from their mistakes (in the Ivory Coast). Hopefully we can learn from our own downfall and our setback can push us to even greater things to come.”
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