Ronwen Williams
South African soccer player From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ronwen Hayden Williams (born 21 January 1992) is a South African professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Premier Soccer League club Mamelodi Sundowns and captains the South Africa national team. In 2024, he was nominated for the Yashin Trophy becoming the first South African footballer to be nominated for a Ballon d'Or award. He is widely regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in Africa.
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Williams with South Africa in 2014 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Ronwen Hayden Williams | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 21 January 1992 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Port Elizabeth, South Africa | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | Mamelodi Sundowns | ||||||||||||||||
| Number | 30 | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| Shatterprufe Rovers | |||||||||||||||||
| Tottenham Hotspur | |||||||||||||||||
| SuperSport United | |||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2010–2022 | SuperSport United | 278 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2022– | Mamelodi Sundowns | 71 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| 2011 | South Africa U20 | 2 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2021– | South Africa U23 | 3 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2014– | South Africa | 50 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 9 February 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 9 February 2025 (UTC) | |||||||||||||||||
He was ranked the ninth best goalkeeper in the world at the 2024 Ballon d'Or.[2]
Club career
Early career
Williams spent part of his youth career with Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur.[3]
SuperSport United
Williams joined SuperSport United as a youth player in 2004. He made his debut in the CAF Champions League in January 2012 against Matlama FC, and in the PSL was four months later against Free State Stars. He kept clean sheets in both games.[4]
Mamelodi Sundowns
On 21 July 2022, Williams signed with Mamelodi Sundowns after a 12-year career at SuperSport United.[5] He made his debut in the 2022–23 opener against Cape Town City FC where he made a string of great saves and kept a clean sheet.[6] He won the African Football League with Mamelodi Sundowns in 2023 where he made two important penalties saves one against Al Ahly and the other one against CA Petróleos Luanda.
International career
Williams made his first appearance for South Africa on 5 March 2014, in a friendly against Brazil, due to a sprained ankle suffered by the first-choice keeper, Itumeleng Khune.[7][8]
In August 2021, the new South Africa coach Hugo Broos named Williams as the new Bafana Bafana captain, taking the armband from Thulani Hlatshwayo who failed to make the squad.[9]
On 3 February 2024, in South Africa's 2023 AFCON quarter-final match against Cape Verde, the game was drawn at 0–0 after extra time. Williams saved 4 penalties in the penalty shootout, taking Bafana Bafana through to an AFCON semi-final for the first time since 2000.[10] Although South Africa lost to Nigeria in the semi-finals in another penalty shootout, Williams went ahead to win the Best Goalkeeper of the tournament.[11]
Career statistics
International
- As of matches played on 10 February 2024[12]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Africa | 2014 | 2 | 0 |
| 2016 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2017 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2018 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2020 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 9 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 7 | 0 | |
| Total | 43 | 0 | |
Honours
Supersport United
- Nedbank Cup: 2011–12, 2015–16, 2016–17
- MTN 8: 2017, 2019
- Telkom Knockout: 2014
Mamelodi Sundowns
South Africa
- Africa Cup of Nations third place: 2023[13]
Individual
References
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