Mamelodi Sundowns coach Manqoba Mngqithi has quashed suggestions their defeats this season were due to the absence of Bafana Bafana captain Ronwen Williams.
The goalkeeper, who kept yet another clean sheet straight after his return from Paris where he finished ninth in the Yashin Trophy category of the Ballon d’Or awards, is arguably one of the finest keepers in African football history.
He’s been nominated for four awards at the 2024 CAF Awards and won the Goalkeeper of the Season and PSL Footballer of the Season for the 2023/24 campaign.
And with Sundowns having lost three games this season, twice against Stellenbosch and in the league against Polokwane City, Williams was not part of the squad.
“It’s a tough one because we know his quality, but I also think Denis [Onyango] had a very good game against Polokwane City when he got the red card and Jody [February] had some sterling saves in the game, he played against Stellies,” he said.
“Ronwen is Ronwen, probably not just the playing side but he’s also a very good leader of the group. We appreciate it when he does the way he does things.
“But I wouldn’t want to nullify the contribution of the other keepers because I think they played very well. We made a lot of mistakes from inside, from the infield players.
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“There’s no game where you can say this goal was scored because the goalkeeper wasn’t of the best quality. It was merely poor defensive actions that got punished.”
Williams has kept 56 clean sheets in 91 games, conceding only 46 goals since joining Sundowns from SuperSport United in July 2022.
