Williams feels sorry for Ofori as he misses Ghana’s Qatar plane

Bafana Bafana captain Ronwen Williams feels gutted for Richard Ofori after he missed out on the Fifa World Cup squad with Ghana following an injury.

Ofori was not named in the final squad for Ghana heading for the World Cup in Qatar set to start on Sunday,  after he picked up an injury during the Orlando Pirates MTN8 final against AmaZulu last week.

Williams said he had spoken to Ofori before the final squad was announced and he had been excited about the prospect of going to Qatar.

“It is not nice hearing about the situation happening to Ofori. I just wish him a speedy recovery. I’m gutted for him because I know him well,” Williams told the media yesterday during Bafana Bafana press conference ahead of their international friendly matches against Mozambique and Angola.

“I spoke to him not so long ago and he was excited to go to the World Cup. So, I just want to wish him a speedy recovery.”

His teammate at the Buccaneers, Miguel Timm, revealed that they had spoken about situations like this happening to Ofori before the MTN8 final, but the goalkeeper was ready to take the risk and play that match. “Obviously, we are teammates and I have a good relationship with him,” Timm said.

“The last time we spoke was two days ago and he was still waiting for his results. I also just learned it now. We spoke about the situation because I know he really wanted to play in the final and that was a risk he was willing to take.

“He is a big man and he has to live with it. I know he will recover well and I know the World Cup is once in a while, but I just wish him well. I’m going to call him later [yesterday] and wish him a speedy recovery.”

With Ofori no longer going to the World Cup, it means the Premier Soccer League will not have any players in Qatar. Ghana are in Group H and their first match is against Portugal next Thursday. 

Meanwhile, reflecting on the upcoming matches for Bafana against Mozambique on Thursday and Angola on Sunday at Mbombela Stadium, Williams said it was important that they win to take the momentum to the Africa Cup of Nations back-to-back qualifiers against Liberia in March.

“The guys are looking forward to the games this week. We know how important these games are, especially for next year.

“So, we will take them seriously and we will give a good account of ourselves and the camp has been good so far, we hope to finish it off on a positive note.”