Bafana Bafana captain Ronwen Williams insists that his side deserved a place in the final of the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) after being eliminated in the semi-final by Nigeria.
South Africa crashed out of the tournament following a 4-2 penalty shootout loss.
Williams was unable to replicate his penalty heroics from the quarter-finals against Cape Verde, where he saved four spot-kicks.
“Obviously, we are still devastated; there is a lot of pain. But I am immensely proud of the boys. Day in and day out, we showed our resilience and brotherhood.
“I think this team deserved to be in the final just for the brotherhood we displayed and the hard work we put in over the last five weeks. As much as I am feeling sad, I am proud of every member of this squad,” said Williams in an interview with SAFA Media.
Williams also credited the support from the public in South Africa.
“We felt the support; social media has been going crazy in the last few weeks.
“We have seen each and every message of support and encouragement. It is what I have been crying out for: for the public to get behind this team.
“But it is all about results. We have got the results now, and hopefully, this can be the start of building a relationship together.
“We know what is possible, and we need everyone. We need the support to fill up the stadiums, and we need them to keep sending us messages of support. Even when we lose, we must stick together,” insisted Williams.
Bafana is due to face the Democratic Republic of Congo in the third-place play-off match on Saturday.
“I think the team deserved to be in the final, but we need to recover today, and on Saturday, we want to go out and finish on a positive note.
“We will prepare accordingly; we are still in camp and still wearing the South African badge, so we are still in service to our country. We will go out and take the game seriously, and hopefully, we can come back with that bronze medal,” added Williams.
