Thanks to the guidance of his football-obsessed family, however, Williams was able to escape. He was spotted playing for the local side Shatterprufe Rovers and moved to SuperSport United's academy in Pretoria two years after his cousin's death. It was the best thing that happened to me, he adds. Before I became a teenager and started experimenting with all these bad things that were happening. I would say that football saved my life.
Williams is reflecting on the journey that has taken him from Gelvandale to being the only player from an African club to have made the shortlist for the Lev Yashin trophy, the award for the world's best goalkeeper that will be handed out at next month's Ballon d'Or ceremony.
As he prepared to face each penalty, the 32-year-old could be seen talking to himself and looking up at the sky as if he was getting advice from someone. It was his brother Marvin, who died in a car crash when Williams was only 18. Sometimes I ask how he could believe in me to do all this.
In South Africa's Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final against Cape Verde in January he matched the all-time record of four saves in a penalty shootout at a major international tournament as Bafana Bafana reached the last four for the first time since 2000.
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