AFCON: “South Africa will be the team to watch” – Mark Williams

Former South Africa forward Mark Williams says Bafana Bafana will be the team to watch out for at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.

The Rainbow nation were a toast of African fans at the last edition of the tournament in Ivory Coast where they managed to win bronze after a 6-5 penalty shootout victory over DR Congo.

Speaking at a Castle Lager send-off event, Williams remained confident that coach Hugo Broos and his charges have a lot of gas in their tank to cause an upset at the tournament that is set between December 21 and January 18.

“You must remember, as coaches, they’re always going to try and play a trump card and say that other countries are not strong anymore – Bafana had a bit of luck [in 2024],” said Williams.

South Africa will face Egypt, Angola and Zimbabwe

“That means you’re taking the pressure away from the players, and that is good coaching because, if you’re going to put us in the deep end and say, ‘Bafana is here’ – they know Bafana is here, nobody wants to play against Bafana.

“I think, believe me, even Egypt doesn’t want to play against them; Angola – the most difficult game we played in 1996, the guy from Angola almost took out my teeth, they were physical.

“But I think because of all the experience we’ve got now, we played in the Champions League with Sundowns winning it, and Chiefs [being in the final], so these players now have the experience and they just need to believe and go out to compete.

“I think if we can compete and play our type of football, we can be unstoppable – I would like us to see more shots on target because I always say goals win games, we don’t have to wait for the 90th minute to play.

“I think, from the coach now, I would like to see the first 20 minutes because if we score first, it’s going to be very difficult to beat us.”

Williams was a key member of South Africa’s squad that won the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time in 1996 on home soil. They are paired in Group B alongside record holders Egypt, Angola and Zimbabwe.