Ronwen Williams hails Smith, highlights Bafana advantage ahead of AFCON | OneFootball

Interview

Williams on Smith adaptation, Bafana AFCON advantage

Photo: Alche Greef/BackPagePix

Bafana Bafana goalkeeper and captain Ronwen Williams has sung the praises of newcomer Tylon Smith and underlined a key advantage his side holds going into the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

The 20-year-old defender, who joined English Championship club Queens Park Rangers (QPR) from Stellenbosch FC in July, was a surprise inclusion in Hugo Broos' squad alongside Shandre Campbell, with both receiving their first senior call-ups.

Smith has already made a strong impression in camp, with Williams highlighting his impressive work ethic and positive mindset during training as he pushes to secure a regular starting berth.

“It's been a strange camp for those reasons too, not everyone is in camp. But for someone like Tylon, he's been here since day one and you can see his excitement every day in the way he trains,” said the Bafana skipper.

"He's training like someone hungry to play and that's the right mentality to have. That's why he's earned his spot in this team. He's not just here to make up the numbers, he's proved his value, and there are many others too. But I don't think it's really sunk in yet that we're at AFCON.

"I think once the full squad is together and we're in Morocco, that's when we'll really settle as a team and fully focus on the task ahead."

Though the Europe-based players haven't yet joined the national camp, the seasoned shot-stopper believes Bafana are in a stronger position than other nations loaded with overseas-based stars, as Broos' squad is largely made up of home-based talents.

“Yes, training has been good—there's been a lot of hard work—but you can feel something is missing, and that's probably because not all the boys are here yet,” Williams added.

"But these are lessons, and all the other teams are facing the same challenges. We can be glad that we have more than half our squad here. Other teams don't have that luxury, so we can't wait to get going.

"It's just a week to go now, and it's up to us to go out there and do what we've been doing—help the youngsters, because there are a lot of young boys in the team now. We need to guide them, help them settle, and then they'll deliver."

Bafana will host Ghana B in their AFCON warm-up match at Dobsonville Stadium on Tuesday (16h00), with the continental showpiece in Morocco kicking off on 21 December.