World Cup reality hits home for Bafana skipper after Ramaphosa interaction

South Africa have been drawn in Group A, where they will face hosts Mexico, South Korea and the winner of the European play-offs at the global showpiece later this year.

Speaking after his interaction with Ramaphosa at the Union Buildings, Williams said the experience reinforced his belief that the nation is firmly behind the team as they prepare for the tournament.

"Yeah, I think it's finally settling in obviously we had a lot of things in between and now with the AFCON out of the way and now getting the message from the president himself. Now it's finally sinking in you know, I can finally feel it that it's close by,” Williams said. 

“I know it's a few months away but you know it's so special getting the message from the president wishing us well. Now we know that we'll go with 62 million supporters."

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Williams also touched on the balancing act between delivering at club level, staying in coach Hugo Broos’ thinking and keeping injury-free before the World Cup.

"You must just do what you have to, which is your job, which is to represent your team. There's lots at stake, some are chasing for the league, the Champions League, trying to win Nedbank, playing for survival, so there's lots to play for,” he added.

“Especially in the second half of the season so you try and stay fit. You try and stay injury free, you don't try and think too far ahead because anything can happen. We don't have any major injuries with all our soldiers because we saw with AFCON that we missed some of our soldiers. 

“The guys who know it all, who have been around. So, five or four months left for the guys to put up their hands. 

“There's no pressure, just do what you've been doing and we can't speak about peaking in football because there's so many games, so many competitions. You need to look after yourself and try be professional, be ready always."