Bafana Bafana euphoria fully deserved – Ronwen Williams

Following their third place finish at the continental tournament held in Cote d’Ivoire over the last four weeks, the side coached by Hugo Broos has restored belief and hope to no longer play in empty stadiums.

Williams, speaking at OR Tambo when South Africa landed on Wednesday morning from Abidjan, says the new found euphoria has to be backed by consistent results such as winning bronze in a major competition.

READ: Hugo Broos recreates Bafana AFCON memories at OR Tambo

"Definitely, and that's what I said as well and I think the coach emphasised that as well that the support will come with performance. For years, yes, we've done well but in patches but I think in the last two years, I think we've only lost three games," Williams said.

As 1996 AFCON winners, runners-up two years later and then semifinalists in 2000, Bafana were always the pride of the nation. However, as they slumped down the rankings so did the support.

The skipper says it had to take “something special” for restoration.

"There was some sort of good, you could see the good work that the coach was doing and there was a lot of positives but the support was still not there. So, it had to take something special to get the people back," Williams added.

Such was the significance of Bafana’s impressive run at the AFCON that political figures also got up early to greet them at the airport.

"And I'm happy that we managed to do that. You know we've done it as a country and like you always say we are stronger together, you know. We can't do it on our own, we need each and every one and to see the honourable Malema sitting here, coming to support us and receive us, it's amazing," he said.

It’s up to the players now to hold on to this feeling with more qualifiers on the horizon. The next target is the 2026 World Cup as well as next year’s AFCON in Morocco.

"You know it does wonders for someone like myself like a lot of the players to see that everyone cares and their support because we don't get a chance to interact with many people. So, we appreciate the support and long may that continue."