The South African Under-23 team’s inability to finish, as well as their defensive frailty, combined to knock them out of the Rio Olympics on Thursday morning.
SA’s 1-1 draw against Iraq at the Corinthians Arena in Sao Paulo sent both nations packing from Group A, despite host country Brazil doing them a huge favour by thrashing Denmark 4-0 in Salvador.
That result meant that whoever won in Sao Paulo would go through to the quarter-finals with Brazil, but it was not to be as the dominant Iraqis squandered a whole heap of chances for the winner, while the South Africans also had their opportunities to land a late sucker punch, which were wasted.
However, things started brightly for Owen da Gama’s team as a poor defensive error by Iraq saw the ball fall into the path of new right wing Andile Fikizolo. The Golden Arrows player whipped in an inviting cross to the penalty area, where Gift Motupa challenged for the ball in the air.
The Iraqi was unable to head it away, and Motupa lashed the ball into the back of the net to put South Africa 1-0 up in the sixth minute.
It was a dream beginning for Da Gama and captain Keagan Dolly, as South Africa had to win to have any chance of qualifying for the next stage.
But the country had hardly been done celebrating when Iraq hit back. They used their speed and skill to great effect, with their slick movement proving too much to handle for the South African defence.
And after Abbubaker Mobara had cleared off the line in the 13th minute, there was no such luck seconds later as Iraqi captain Saad Luaibi soared above and away from Rivaldo Coetzee to power a header past Itumeleng Khune, who had no chance of stopping it.
Iraq then put down the hammer, laying siege to the South African goal as the likes of Luaibi, Adnan Ali and Amjed Attwan poured in search of a second strike. They had so much space to operate in that it appeared as if SA were playing with 10 men for most of the match.
And the few times the South Africans had possession, they relinquished it way too easily as Iraq’s defence pressed hard and pushed them backward towards their own goal.
This resulted in captain Dolly hardly having a say on attack as he was so closely marked, while Menzi Masuku and Phumlani Ntshangase were largely anonymous.
It was only the big frame of Motupa that kept the Iraqis on their toes, and it was puzzling that Da Gama didn’t bring on someone like Tashreeq Morris to add extra physicality upfront and utilise crosses into the box – which is exactly how they scored their goal – as Iraq’s pacy midfield closed down South Africa’s passing game.
Adnan Ali first struck the upright in the 40th minute, which was followed by a terrific Khune save in the same passage of play as South Africa held on to the 1-1 scoreline at halftime.
Things didn’t improve in the second half either as Da Gama kept the starting XI on the park, with Iraq hitting the upright again from a free kick in the 55th minute.
And if it wasn’t for Khune, his team may have conceded four or five goals on the night, with his best block coming in a one-on-one duel with Mahdi Kamil in the 60th minute.
Motupa had another wonderful chance to put South Africa ahead four minutes later when he rifled the ball in from just outside the box, but a deflection off a defender took it off course.
And that was the order of the day for the last quarter as well, with South Africa gradually creating a few more opportunities, with Iraq losing their spark as they became resigned to their fate.
Neither team deserved to reach the quarter-finals based on their serious lack of finishing ability in front of goal, but for South Africa, fans will bemoan the fact that Da Gama didn’t act decisively enough and make changes at halftime in what was a must-win game.
The team were ultimately over-reliant on star playmaker Dolly, who was marked out of the game by the Iraqis, with none of the other attackers – apart from Motupa – taking responsibility.
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