Legend Andre Arendse shares a piece of advice with Bafana Bafana and Mamelodi Sundowns keeper Ronwen Williams to go abroad when an opportunity arises.
A former Afcon winner with the Class of ’96, Arendse says the Gqeberha-born keeper deserves a reward for his exploits at the recent Afcon tournament in Ivory Coast.
Ronwen Williams produced five clean sheets for Bafana as they claimed a bronze medal last weekend – he broke Arendse’s record of four he set back in 1996.
On top of that, the Sundowns gloveman was rewarded with a CAF Goalkeeper of the Tournament Award.
In an interview with Sowetan, the current SuperSport United assistant coach to Gavin Hunt, Arendse backs Williams to think of a move away from Masandawana.
“I think now he has to make a move abroad, but who knows what he is thinking. A move abroad will take him to another level,” Arendse told the daily publication.
“Ronwen has passed his test in the African continent. Now is for him to make a move and try at the European level and play on that type of stage.
“I think he will be successful at that stage. He is not a dimensional type of player. When he was at SuperSport, his strength was putting counterattacks with his distributions.”
“His strength was also building up attacking play when he was in possession.”
“At Sundowns, now he is building from the back and he has become very comfortable in possession of the ball. He can offer that to many different leagues around the world.”
Furthermore, Arendse praises the 32-year-old reigning DStv Premiership winner with Sundowns, saying he has grown in stature.
“This is the testimony of the development that he had over the last few years. Remember when he first came to SuperSport at the age of 12, then already he worked with coach Grant Johnson,” he said.
“And today, Grant Johnson is the goalkeeper coach of the national team. So the relationship between them and the understanding that is required is there.”
“When I was the head of goalkeeping at the national team in 2019 in the Afcon, I saw that he was progressing, he was maturing.”
“And what took him further is his move to Sundowns, a team that continued to play at the highest level in the African continent against top clubs.”