Brazilian players Neymar (L) and Gabriel Barbosa celebrate after
scoring during a friendly football match against Japan ahead of the Rio
2016 Olympic Games at the Serra Dourada Stadium in Goiania, Goias
State, Brazil, on July 30, 2016. The Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic
Games will be held in Brazil from August 5-21 and September 7-18
respectively.
Image by: EVARISTO SA / AFP
Image by: EVARISTO SA / AFP
The South African Olympic team’s notoriously brittle defence‚ where coach Owen Da Gama has made some eyebrow-raising selections‚ face their biggest test as Brazil coach Rogerio Micale prepares to unleash a three-man attack including Neymar on them.
Da Gama’s South Africans will need a far tighter display than they have been known for in their opening game of the men’s Olympic tournament against the hosts at Stade Nacional Mane Garrincha in Brasilia on Thursday night (9pm SA time‚ 4pm in Brazil).Micale showed his hand in Brazil’s final friendly before the tournament‚ a comfortable 2-0 victory in Goiana on Monday against Japan – a team who beat South Africa 4-1 in Matsumoto on June 29.
The Brazil coach fielded a frontline comprising Barcelona superstar Neymar on the left‚ Palmeiras’s upcoming star Gabriel Jesus in the middle‚ and Santos’s prolific scorer Gabriel “Gabigol” Barbosa on the right.
Da Gama has made some strange alterations to the shape of his team‚ which the coach will hope will not backfire on the South Africans.
Kaizer Chiefs defender Mulomowandau Mathoho’s presence as one of two overage players next to Bafana Bafana centreback partner Rivaldo Coetzee should bring some stability to the South Africans.
The inclusion of Itumeleng Khune‚ the other overage player‚ in the squad has not been popular on all fronts.
Fans have questioned why Jody February‚ the hero of the side’s third-placed finish at the Caf U-23 Africa Cup of Nations in Senegal in November‚ has been relegated to the bench.
But if ever there is a time that Khune’s experience could be crucial marshaling a defence and controlling his area‚ not to mention the Chiefs keeper’s famous distribution skills‚ this could be it.
Khune has conceded just two goals in two games against Brazil's senior team – 1-0 defeats at the 2009 Confederation Cup (at Ellis Park) and a friendly in Sao Paulo in 2013.
There should be no concerns on the right of defence from Orlando Pirates’ new signing Abbubaker Mobara.
It is on the left‚ and in defensive midfield‚ that Da Gama’s selections might raise eyebrows.
Tebogo Moerane was arguably the U-23s’ defender of the tournament both in Senegal and as they won the Cosafa Cup in Namibia in June.
The Bidvest Wits man has been dropped to the bench‚ with Deolin Mekoa‚ the Maritzburg United utility player who impressed in defensive midfield in Windhoek‚ brought in at left-back.
In defensive midfield‚ Da Gama has opted for Highlands Park’s Mothobi Mvala – who has one U-23 cap against Japan – ahead of Mekoa and Wits’ Phumlani Ntshangase‚ who has been the team’s stalwart in that position.
The coach has left Brazil-based Tyroane Sandows on his bench‚ opting for Menzi Masuku behind Lille striker Lebo Mothiba.
Da Gama will need to have gotten these decisions spot on or Micale’s deadly frontline‚ with Lazio’s Felipe Anderson and Rafinha of Barcelona behind them as playmakers‚ could pick the South Africans apart.
Selection question marks aside‚ there are some hopes for an upset result for Young Bafana against the hosts in the 72 000-seater stadium.
For one‚ it has happened at an Olympics before – when Quinton Fortune and Benni McCarthy’s class of 2000 shocked the South American giants 3-1 in Sydney.
Brazil are under tremendous pressure as hosts of this tournament.
The country are desperate for their next generation to show signs of a revival after their greatest footballing humiliation – the astonishing 7-1 semifinal thrashing by Germany as hosts of the 2014 World Cup.
Given a choice of one of the tournaments by Barcelona‚ Neymar was included in these Olympics rather than the Copa America in the USA in June‚ where Brazil crashed out in the first round to compound the current miserable state of their football.
On Thursday night a talented South Africa will find out if all these factors can combine for another Olympic upset‚ or if they have been just a case of clutching at straws.
- TMG Digital
