Johannesburg – It could be said the odds were stacked against the South African Under-23 football team reaching the knockout stage at the Tokyo Olympic Games following the treatment meted to the Mzansi team after some members tested positive for Covid-19.
Reports of unfair treatment and stigmatisations have been doing the rounds following the positive tests at the Olympic village, where the majority of athletes are staying.
The point is, it was disingenuous for the organisers of the Tokyo Games to label the two South African football players as being first athletes to test positive for Covid-19 in the village while 60 coronavirus infections were detected a week before the start of the Games.
After right-back Thabiso Monyane and midfielder Kamohelo Mahlatsi were singled out as being first athletes to test positive for coronavirus, together with video analyst Mario Masha, the writing was on the wall as the Young Bafana were due to face hosts Japan in their opening match.
The football team had to deal with the psychological effects of being stigmatised, the whole team was isolated only to be released three days before the first match, thus throwing their preparations into disarray, notwithstanding the squabbles involving the team’s technical staff members.
Adversities aside, let’s focus on the performance of the team on the field of play.
To say the SA Under-23s must shoulder the blame for being knocked out in the first round would be treating them with kid gloves. They let the nation down big time. For the third time in the history of the country’s Olympic Games participation, as was the case in Sydney 2000 and in Rio 2016, the Young Bafana failed to go past the opening round.
The Under-23s had no reason not to beat the host nation Japan, marked by a 1-0 second-half goal winner and should have got maximum points against France after leading the game three times, only to throw it away 4-3 with seconds remaining before full time.
The less said about the 3-0 loss in the dead rubber match against the Mexicans, where the team was “playing for pride”, the better.
Astonishingly, David Notoane continued to praise his players despite them letting themselves and the country down. Notoane has to account to the nation or face the chop.
That said though, we will forever remain wounded over how our Young Bafana were treated at the bio-bubble in relation to other positive cases in the Olympic village. I rest my case.
Also read:
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