‘We have the know-how, the players and the technical team have seen it all,’ said the Sundowns goalkeeper.
Ronwen Williams has praised Mamelodi Sundowns’ “mentality monsters” and has promised they will come out fighting to regain the Betway Premiership next season.
Sundowns’ second star
Sundowns returned home from Morocco on Monday night, with the Caf Champions League trophy in tow, having beaten AS FAR 2-1 on aggregate to win their second star.
Sundowns’ success came despite a hectic schedule, particularly at the end of the season, when they had to play seven Premiership matches in 21 days.
They ended up just missing out on winning a ninth Premiership title on the spin, as Orlando Pirates took the title, but recovered to beat AS FAR and lift their second Champions League trophy a decade after their first.
Sundowns’ experience of playing in the Champions League no doubt helped them in an intimidating atmosphere in Rabat, where the home side used all the tricks in the book to try and win penalties and get Sundowns players booked.
And Sundowns goalkeeper Williams borrowed from former Liverpool head coach Jurgen Klopp in describing his teammates.
“That comes with African football. Each country has its own way of doing things and we embrace that,” said Williams.
“We have been on this journey a long time and we take it all in and enjoy it.
“We didn’t feel any threat and enjoyed our stay, we had setbacks but it helped us stay laser focused, we knew it would be difficult and they (AS FAR) would try and disturb us.
Williams – ‘Nothing can break us’
“We have the know-how, the players and the technical team have seen it all. We are mentality monsters, nothing can break us.”
Sundowns also had to recover quickly for Sunday’s game after watching Orlando Pirates beat ORBIT College 2-0 on Saturday to seal the Premiership title.
“We were disappointed but it was not in our hands, and we prefer things to be in our hands, so we can be in control,” added Williams.
“It wasn’t to be and we accepted that once the final whistle went, we said ‘now is the time to focus on the big one’. There are mentality monsters in this team. You could see in the first leg (of the CL final) the hunger, the desire and the dedication we came out with.”
“It is time to reflect and see where we got it wrong (in the Premiership). For a long time we got it right. We will be much better, we might even break the 100 points mark.”