After Bafana Bafana's surprise 2-1 victory over Morocco this past weekend, the Atlas Lions' head coach Walid Regragui claimed that South Africa could cause a shock at the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations, and also lauded Ronwen Williams.
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At FNB Stadium on Saturday, an own goal from keeper Munir Mohamedi and a second-half strike by Zakhele Lepasa condemned the north African giants to their first defeat since their 2022 FIFA World Cup third-place play-off against Croatia in December.
The 1976 Africa Cup of Nations winners were, however, without a number of key players, with the likes of Sofyan Amrabat, Selim Amallah and Azzedine Ounahi all missing the encounter against Hugo Broos' men, but Regragui was gracious in defeat, admitting they were beaten by the better side on the day.
The 47-year-old tactician also made the shock claim that Bafana could be a dark horse in Africa's continental showpiece next year in Ivory Coast.
"I know the quality of the Bafana Bafana, I came here to make you happy, I said this is a very big team in Africa, but the reality is we played Cape Verde, we played South Africa," the ex-Wydad Casablanca boss said in a post-match press conference attended by Soccer Laduma, before going on to praise the Mamelodi Sundowns shot-stopper.
"He [Williams] played with confidence. The goalkeeper, if he lose the ball, it's not a problem [for him]; when you play like that it becomes easy for a lot of opponents. I like the competition, when you lose one ball and we can score, it's different. He doesn't play with this concern but he's a good technical player.
"[You have] very good fans, and I think in the Africa Cup, they can make a big surprise with this spirit, but I'm very happy to see this team because South Africa has worked a lot on their football and have good players, good quality players. With Mamelodi Sundowns, your league is good.
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"You go up in the future, Inshallah, but I can't say more about competition, as competition is competition. In the World Cup, we win Spain, we win Portugal, but when we play against Cape Verde... It depends on who you play.
"But I think my team learnt a lot, it's good for my team, maybe not for Bafana Bafana."
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