South African goalkeeper Ronwen Williams believes Bafana Bafana will only get better at the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals in Egypt.
Bafana kept their hopes of winning their second Afcon title alive by eliminating the tournament hosts Egypt in the Round of 16 on Saturday.
The 1996 African champions had a slow start to the continental competition having recorded two defeats and one victory during their group stage campaign.
Williams feels their poor preparation affected the team’s performance as they played only one friendly match, against the Black Stars of Ghana.
“Other teams played three or four games. As coach Baxter said, we’re using this tournament as preparation. The further we go, the better we will get.”
The SuperSport United shot-stopper was surprisingly dropped by Bafana head coach Stuart Baxter ahead of the team’s clash with Namibia which South Africa won on June 28.
Williams had done well during the Southern African giants’ opening Group D defeat to Ivory Coast on June 24, but he was replaced by Bidvest Wits keeper Darren Keet in goal.
“It’s part of the game, the coach explained his reason. I didn’t let that keep me down. I stayed positive and mentally strong,” he revealed.
“I continued working hard at training. I was prepared when given the opportunity again.”
South Africa will now take on Nigeria in a highly anticipated quarter-final encounter at Cairo International Stadium on Wednesday.