South Africa Goalkeeper: I Take Blame for the First Goal

South Africa's captain, Ronwen Williams, was among those who made costly errors in their 2-0 loss to Mexico at the start of the World Cup. The goalkeeper misjudged a pass out from the back, leading to the first goal, and admitted his fault after the match. He also revealed that his team was surprised by their opponent's changed formation.

"Obviously, when we analyzed them before the game, we saw that in most of their matches they played with five defenders or in a 3-5-2 formation. So, we wanted to approach the game similarly, but with an extra man in midfield. However, they changed their plans – that's football. They came out with a back four, and that changed the situation we had to deal with on the fly. We had to switch to man-to-man marking across the entire pitch, and at this level, you have to learn and adapt as quickly as possible. Today, we learned some extremely tough lessons. But I don't think the final outcome had anything to do with our initial formation," Williams began.

He then commented on the situation leading to the first goal.

"I take full responsibility for that early situation. We tried to play out from the back with short passes, as we always do, but the Mexican press was very aggressive. My pass put Yaya (Sithole) under immense pressure; they intercepted it and punished us instantly. At a World Cup, such mistakes are penalized in the same second," the goalkeeper added.

Despite the loss, he remains positive about the upcoming matches in the tournament.

"The result hurts, but we need to keep our heads held high. Playing here against the hosts in front of this crowd is crazy. Even with 10 and then 9 men, the boys kept running and fighting. The group is open; we have matches against the Czech Republic and South Korea ahead. Everything is still in our hands, and I know this team has the strength to get out of the group," the player concluded.