Arendse Opens Up On ‘Worrying Factor’ For Bafana

Andre Arendse gives his verdict on Ronwen Williams being beaten at the near post

Former legendary Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Andre Arendse has weighed in on where Hugo Broos’ charges have to improve and suggested how Ronwen Williams would feel after conceding at the near post against Angola.

Bafana opened their Group B campaign in the Africa Cup of Nations with a 2-1 win over Angola.

Even though South Africa had a goal disallowed by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) for offside, it was not plain-sailing, as The Palancas Negras posed a serious threat, particularly on set-plays.

Although Bafana looked uncomfortable defending set-pieces, Arendse has instead decided to look at the positive side of the national team’s defensive unit.

“You know what I do like now about the team defensively, in open play, the team is very difficult to break down now, with the back-four we had. There’s a lot more strength and stability in that back-four,” Arendse said, speaking to the Siya crew.

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“But set-pieces is a bit of a worrying factor, as I believe there’ll be a lot of work done on the training ground, in terms of defending set-pieces. The near-post defending of set-pieces is not good and obviously everyone knows it cost us a goal,” Arendse conceded.

The former Mamelodi Sundowns and SuperSport United shot-stopper also gave his thoughts on how Williams would react to conceding at his near post.

“You know Ronwen would be disappointed, I guarantee that and rightfully so, because one of the first rules of goalkeeping is ‘never get beaten at the near post’. When I look at the goal from different angles, it was very difficult for Ronwen to save that,” Arendse continued.

“Because you’re shifting across centrally for the free-kick and it was under-hit and across the near post, so obviously you’re gonna be scrambling towards your near post.

“What I will say is from an entire defence perspective, you’ve got to look at conceding that goal from a collective perspective,” the 1996 AFCON champion added.

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