After being written off following a humiliating 5-0 defeat to a Neymar-inspired Brazil, SuperSport United captain Ronwen Williams details how he emphatically managed to bounce back to produce what he recalls as his best performance for Matsatsantsa A Pitori.
It was on 5 March 2014, where the PSG talisman put on a show to score a hat-trick past Williams at the FNB Stadium reducing Bafana Bafana to a disgraceful defeat, and more so for a young Williams, who was the man in between the sticks on the day – with the prophets of doom calling it the end for the budding goalie.
However, as the old adage goes; 'tough times don't last, tough people do'.
Williams proved to be the toughest of them all. Eight months after hanging his head in shame, the star from Port-Elizabeth showed why he could not be counted out, as he carried SuperSport to cup glory, quite literally! He managed to pull off an incredible double save in extra time to deny Eleazar Rodgers from the penalty spot, before showing excellent reflexes to deny the striker with the rebound, which saw coach Gordon Igesund's men walk away as the Telkom Knockout champions.
"I'd probably say the Telkom final in 2014 was my most memorable game for SuperSport. We beat Platinum Stars 3-2, where I made the double save... I think that's when people started taking note.
Watch it here:
We're in good hands, literally ???? @ronwen30 #ForTheBadge pic.twitter.com/DleLGzTU7N
— SuperSport United FC (@SuperSportFC) May 21, 2020
"Because before that, yes, I won the Nedbank (Cup) the year before and I went to the MTN8 final the year before that, but I think it was more that game that made people stand up and take note, because now I basically carried the team. It that was extra time, everyone was tired and that was just coming off the Brazil game as well, where people were killing me, saying that I'm not good enough.
"For that to happen was just me telling people that as much as we lost 5-0, there was still something in this boy, I just needed to find it. Obviously, it had an effect on me, when people kept questioning my abilities because of the Brazil game. But I just had to knuckle down, work hard, focus on myself, focus on my game and I think that was the game that made people realize, that there's something in this boy."
Since then, Williams has gone on to win three more trophies with his boyhood club, lifting the Nedbank cup twice in 2015/16 and 2016/17, as well as the MTN8 trophy in the 17/18 season – proving that impossible is nothing.
