Goalkeeper and captain Ronwen Williams was South Africa’s hero with four saves, as Bafana Bafana beat Cape Verde 2-1 on penalties to reach the Africa Cup of Nations semifinals on Saturday after a goalless draw in their last-eight tie.
Williams had already come up with one vital stop at the end of normal time and the match went to penalties as it finished 0-0 after 120 minutes in Yamoussoukro.
He then produced a remarkable performance to keep out penalties by Bebe, Willy Semedo, Laros Duarte and Patrick Andrade as South Africa - who themselves failed to convert two spot-kicks - progressed to a last-four showdown with Nigeria, who beat Angola 1-0, on Wednesday.
Of the result, coach Hugo Broos says: “We were not lucky because we had a very good keeper today. If you can stop four penalties it is not luck anymore.
“He did not only that, he also saved us two minutes before the end with a player who was alone in front of him, so yes he was Man of the Match. I think you could choose nobody else.”
The 32-year-old Williams adds: “I give credit to the analysts. They prepare me, they cut so many videos. We study the clubs. I study them as well, I try to pick up trends.
“My phone is full of penalty clips so it is credit to the analysts for doing the work because it is not easy to get footage of some of those players because they play all over the world.”
Bafana are now in the Afcon semis for the first time since “their glory days”, when they won the title as hosts in 1996, were runners-up in 1998 and then finished third in 2000.
Earlier on Saturday, hosts Ivory Coast scored in the last minute of extra time to come from behind and beat Mali 2-1 in Bouake. The Ivorians meet the Democratic Republic of Congo in their semifinal on Wednesday.
Voice Sports Team