Williams calls for Sundowns unity after Caf Super Cup defeat

Mamelodi Sundowns goalkeeper Ronwen Williams has urged the club’s supporters and players to remain united after their 3-1 Caf Super Cup final defeat by USM Alger at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Sunday.

The loss came after Sundowns were knocked out in the Caf Champions League preliminaries, ending their hopes of defending the title they won this year.

Williams said the team must resist the temptation to blame individuals and instead use the setbacks as motivation to improve during the rest of the season.

“There is no point in pointing fingers now; we need each other. It’s not going to help anyone, and I would urge Masandawana, tough as it is, to stick together, be there for the boys and support us,” he told the media.

The goalkeeper acknowledged the disappointment of losing a final on home ground but said Sundowns still had other trophies to contest.

“Obviously, it is tough. This one will hurt for a very long time. It’s disappointing… [but] we have to reflect as a team on what worked, and we need to get back to that,” he said.

“As tough as it is, we need to pick ourselves up. It’s going to be a long season, and we just need to be better as a team, draw strength from one another and keep growing.

“We can’t win them all, but it is disappointing to lose at home in the final. But we will have to regroup and get going.”

Sundowns have previously responded to difficult results, including their defeat by Pyramids in the Champions League final. Williams pointed to that experience as evidence that the squad can recover from its latest setback.

He said the players needed to examine what had gone wrong, take responsibility collectively and continue working towards the remaining targets.

“You can only learn from these moments; I mean, we’ve got so much in the last few years that we have to learn from it.

“We need to dig deep, and we’ve always done that and risen up again and kept going. Sundowns is a massive team. We need to keep going and congratulate the other team.”

Williams’ appeal comes as Sundowns assess a difficult period in which they have suffered successive disappointments in continental competition. Despite the defeats, he said the response must be based on togetherness, renewed effort and continued support from Masandawana.