Bafana Bafana captain Williams says, though sometimes critical, coach Broos wants best for SA

Since he arrived in South Africa more than two years ago, Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has been outspoken about problems facing South African football and captain Ronwen Williams says the Belgian is mostly correct in his assessment. 

Broos has caused a stir by saying the standard of the Premier Soccer League (PSL) is not good enough and South African players are not on the same level as some of their counterparts on the continent. 

Broos, who has apologised for some of his outbursts, was at it recently when he said Kaizer Chiefs players do not deserve to be in the Bafana Bafana squad for friendly matches against Namibia and DR Congo on Saturday and Tuesday respectively. 

His statement ruffled feathers and he later changed his tune, saying he didn’t mean Amakhosi players don't have the skills, as he was forced to call-up Pule Mmodi as replacement for injured Themba Zwane. 

“As professionals, we know what he is speaking about. He spoke about Percy Tau but had a discussion with him first. With the things he says out there, he won’t just go out there and throw the player under the bus,” said Williams as Bafana prepared for the friendlies at Orlando Stadium. 

“He will discuss it with you and you will know his reasoning for saying those things. Even when Themba Zwane came back into the national team, he had him in the hotel for about 10 minutes explaining why he left him out before and why he needed him. 

“He is that type of guy, everyone thinks he is harsh, but he is totally the opposite. He wants the best for us, he wants the best for the country, and that’s why he is being honest about everything.” 

Williams added that most of the time Broos is right in his assessment of the challenges faced by South African football. 

“Like you said, most of the time he is right. It’s just that people try to cover it up. Him opening up shows the type of human being he is, he wants to see South Africa on top.” 

Over the past few years Bafana have received a lot of criticism for below-par performances and Williams said players must take responsibility. 

“It is not nice, as players we don’t enjoy that [criticism], but we will take the blame and it is on us. We need to do more to be out there. In the past we used to be in the malls mixing with the fans and now they don’t know us.” 

Williams said players must be closer to the fans. 

“Together with Percy and other captains, we will discuss it with management to say we need to do more. After this press conference we are going to a school and this is a start and we need to mend this relationship with fans.  

“There is a good thing happening now with Bafana and we need to all get involved and, sometimes, it feels like we are playing during Covid-19 times again. In the last press conference I asked fans to come out and they did. 

“Now it’s an opportunity to thank them for giving us that wonderful atmosphere in the stadium against Morocco. That was probably the best I have experienced for a Bafana game.”