FIFA CWC: Williams Explains What Led to Mistake He Made in Sundowns' Loss to Dortmund

• Ronwen Williams has addressed the costly mistake he made during Mamelodi Sundowns' 4-3 defeat to Borussia Dortmund in the ongoing 2025 FIFA Club World Cup
• Reflecting on the high level of competition in the tournament, the Bafana Bafana goalkeeper shared his thoughts on how Sundowns can raise their game to compete with the best teams globally
• The 33-year-old remains optimistic, emphasizing the valuable lessons learned from facing top teams and looking forward to improve

Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Ronwen Williams has opened up on the costly error he made during Mamelodi Sundowns' 4-3 loss against Borussia Dortmund at the ongoing 2025 FIFA Club World Cup in the United States.

The Premier Soccer League giants took the lead in the match through Lucas Ribeiro's brilliant strike, but they were only able to hold on to the lead for five minutes as the goalkeeper made a rookie mistake that led to Dortmund's equaliser through Felix Nmecha.

Williams finished a place above Dortmund's goalkeeper Gregory Kobel in the Best Goalkeeper category at the 2024 Ballon d'Or ceremony last year, and they were on the pitch together for the first time this evening.

Williams breaks down his costly error against Dortmund

In an interview after the match, Williams narrated what went wrong that led to his mistake against the Bundesliga giants.

“It’s never easy to concede a goal like that, but we’re a team that takes risks,” Williams said.

“Before I received the ball, I saw Tebza in position, but he got a call from Marcelo to move away. It was just one of those unfortunate moments, but we learn from it and move forward.”

The Bafana Bafana captain also reflected on the level of competition so far and explained how you can level up with the best team in the tournament.

“There isn’t a huge gap in intensity or physicality. We showed that we can compete. Yes, they might be physically stronger, but it all comes down to mentality. If your mindset is right, you can go toe-to-toe with the best, and that’s exactly what we did.”

Williams also praised his teammates for their performance despite going three goals down in the match.

“We had great chances in the first half. I’m incredibly proud of the boys, the effort, the desire, the fight. The gap isn’t as big as people think, and we proved that once again.”

The South African international also acknowledged the costly nature of mistakes at this level, claiming it is disappointing.

“Of course it’s disappointing. That was the key message this week: at this level, mistakes get punished. Unfortunately, all their goals came from our own errors. In the PSL, you can sometimes get away with those, but not here.”

“Still, we shouldn’t be too tough on ourselves. We played our football, and we stuck to our identity. Big credit to the boys, there are a lot of lessons we can take from this, and we’ll grow from it.”

Source: Briefly News