The Bafana Bafana captain and goalkeeper, Ronwen Williams, is humbled after being nominated for a prestigious Ballon d’Or award.

The Mamelodi Sundowns star has become the first South African to be nominated for football’s highest accolade. He has also become the first African player to be nominated for the award while still playing his club football on the continent.

Ronwen Williams. Picture: X

He is one of ten goalkeepers up for the Yacine Trophy and they include Diogo Costa of Porto, Andriy Lunin of Real Madrid, and Emiliano Martinez of Aston Villa.

Williams said the news came as a shock but he hopes this will inspire all of his teammates as well as the future generation of players in South Africa. “I am speechless! I have got no words to describe how I am feeling at the moment,” said Williams.

“It is a surreal feeling. I am still in shock. It hasn’t sunk in as yet. I am proud, excited, and happy – not just for myself but more for South Africa as a whole. I hope this will inspire the next generation and the current players to just believe and chase their dreams. I hope they believe that we as South Africans can achieve the unthinkable.

“I can’t express how I’m really feeling – it’s like my body has left me. I have never had a feeling like this before. But I am just proud of myself. There are so many people I would like to thank – the coaches, teammates and everyone else who has helped me in my journey. This didn’t start now, it started years ago. I would also like to thank my parents as well.”

The winner will be revealed during the Ballon d’Or awards ceremony, which will take place in Paris on 28 October.

Ronwen Williams has become the first goalkeeper to ever save 4 penalties in a single TotalEnergies AFCON shootout. ??????#TotalEnergiesAFCON2023 pic.twitter.com/35g7qPeB2D

— CAF_Online (@CAF_Online) February 4, 2024

OFM Sport/Morgan Piek cg