SA Under-23 face uphill battle in Olympics

THE South African U-23 football side face an uphill battle to advance from the group stage of their 2020 Olympic Games campaign in Tokyo.

The South Africans opened their campaign in Japan with a 1-0 loss against the hosts on Thursday.

Their two remaining fixtures are against France and Mexico, so it’s safe to say that David Notoane’s men probably lost the least challenging of their three group fixtures.

The loss was hardly surprising, considering that South Africa faced several crises leading up to the Games due to the pandemic, all through no fault of their own.

Prior to the tournament, they were dealt a blow when five squad members withdrew due to medical and other reasons.

They suffered another setback upon arrival in Tokyo when two players and a video analyst tested positive for Covid-19.

As a result of the positive tests, 21 members of the first team were forced to isolate ahead of the game against Japan which the hosts won through a sole second half goal from Takefusa Kubo.

“One thing that I think one has to mention is the issue of stigmatisation,” said Notoane. “Often, when people come across us, you see people running away. I think that’s a little disrespectful.”

Notoane felt that his squad should have been afforded better treatment.

“It’s something that we would appreciate as a team,” he said. “When people start to run away from you when you approach them, as if there’s something wrong with you – the truth of the matter is there’s nothing wrong with us.”

Following the defeat to Japan, things do not get easier for South Africa as their next two games are against Mexico and France, two giants of world football.

“We couldn’t go out to train and that limited our preparations,” added Notoane.

“It was not easy sitting in the room, but overall I’m happy with the team. We responded very well, we were unfortunate to get the result (we got), but it was very positive,” he said.

Notoane’s men meet France tomorrow morning.

While the French are a technically stronger side, South Africa can take heart from the fact that their opposition will be low in confidence after opening their own campaign with a 4-1 beating from Mexico.