CAF 2024 Awards: Why Ronwen Williams Was Robbed of African Player of the Year Award
- Ronwen Williams was one of the five nominees for the CAF 2024 Men's Player of the Year award, but missed out on the top prize
- The South African shot-stopper was named the Men's Interclub Player of the Year award and the Men's Goalkeeper of the Year
- Briefly News lists some of the reasons the Bafana Bafana goalkeeper deserved to win the Men's Player of the Year Award
Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Ronwen Williams was the biggest winner at the 2024 Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) awards held in Marrakech, Morocco, on Monday evening.
The Mamelodi Sundowns star won the Men's Interclub Player of the Year award and the Men's Goalkeeper of the Year but lost the CAF Player of the Year award to Nigerian international Ademola Lookman.
Briefly News outlines why Williams was robbed and deserved to win the African Player of the Year award.
Source: Twitter
Williams robbed of CAF POTY award
1. Ballon d'Or recognition despite playing club football in Africa
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Williams made history months ago by being the first player to get a Ballon d'Or nomination despite playing his club football in Africa.
He was nominated among some of the finest goalkeepers in the world for the Yashin Trophy and finished ninth in the ranking.
Lookman also finished 14th in the Ballon d'Or ranking, and he has the advantage of playing his club football in Europe.
2. Better performance at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations
Williams had a better performance at the AFCON 2023 in Ivory Coast compared to the other four nominees. The South African international was named the best goalkeeper at the competition while keeping five clean sheets in seven games and also made the team of the tournament XI.
The winner, Lookman, also had a fantastic performance in the competition, but the Mamelodi Sundowns star had a more iconic moment and was the major reason South Africa finished third.
Williams was the hero for Bafana Bafana against Cape Verde in the quarter-finals after a Man of the Match performance while saving four penalties in the shootout.
He also replicated the same performance against the Democratic Republic of Congo in the third-place playoff match.
3. More individual/team achievements
The 2023-24 season was a good campaign for Williams individually, as he won many individual awards and received a lot of special recognition globally.
He won best goalkeeper at AFCON, AFL Best Goalkeeper, Premier Soccer League goalkeeper and player of the season.
With Mamelodi Sundowns, the 32-year-old won two major trophies (the Betway Premiership and the inaugural edition of the African Football League (AFL), compared to Lookman's only one title with Atalanta, the UEFA Europa League.
Moroccan media criticizes CAF
Briefly News earlier reported that the Moroccan media have slammed CAF for crowning Nigeria's Ademola Lookman the best player in Africa rather than giving the award to Achraf Hakimi.
The PSG star lost the CAF POTY award to a Nigerian for the second consecutive year.
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Source: Briefly News
