The South African Under-23 team will have to go into their Rio Olympics group-stage decider without defender Erick Mathoho and striker Lebogang Mothiba on Wednesday night in Sao Paulo.
The experience and organisational ability of the 26-year-old Bafana hard man Mathoho will be sorely missed as the SA Football Association (Safa) announced on their website that an ankle injury has ruled him out of the must-win clash against Iraq on Wednesday night (Thursday morning 3am SA time) at the Corinthians Arena.
The man nicknamed "Tower" has been one of the stars of the Olympic campaign, especially in the opening game against hosts Brazil as he helped kept Barcelona forward Neymar in check throughout the goalless draw.
The Kaizer Chiefs centre back put in another strong display in the 1-0 defeat to Denmark, but had a hand in conceding the goal as he came out of the backline formation and missed a through-ball that created the opening for the Danes to net the winner.
Mathoho’s central defensive partner Rivaldo Coetzee will definitely start against Iraq, and Da Gama could perhaps shift the hard-tackling right back Abbubaker Mobara into the centre of defence and bring in Kwanda Mngonyama at right back.
With Mothobi Mvala back from his one-match suspension, he is likely to replace Mngonyama as the defensive midfielder, while Safa said that Mobara has overcome the hamstring strain that forced him off the field in the closing stages of the Denmark game.
But as much as Mathoho’s prowess will be missed, Team SA desperately need goals if they want to stay alive in the football tournament.
The South Africans have to beat Iraq and then hope that the outcome of the other Group A encounter between Brazil and Denmark is in their favour. That duel – which will be played at the same time as the SA game – needs to either end in a draw or a Denmark victory for Da Gama’s side to be sure of qualifying for the quarter-finals.
Denmark currently lead the group on four points, with Brazil second on two and South Africa and Iraq both on a single point each.
In the event of a Brazilian victory, South Africa will need to improve their goal difference – which is at minus one – beyond that of Denmark, who are on plus-one.
So SA’s qualification hopes could come down to how many goals they are able to score against Iraq, but they have drawn a blank so far at the Olympics, drawing 0-0 with Brazil and losing 1-0 to Denmark.
Captain Keagan Dolly and attacking midfielder Gift Motupa were desperately unlucky not to break their team’s duck as they both struck the woodwork against Denmark, while South Africa had a whole host of other chances as well.
Losing front-man Mothiba – who is out due to suspected chicken pox – will affect their cause significantly too as while he may not have scored a goal yet, the French-based striker has impressed with his speed and movement in the red zone.
However, his absence could see one or both of Ajax Cape Town’s Tashreeq Morris or Brazil-based Tyrone Sandows form a new strike-force. A lot depends on whether Da Gama opts for a more attacking line-up, which could see a defensive midfielder left out and two strikers being played upfront.
Up to now, Mothiba has operated in the front line mainly on his own, with Dolly having a free role as the playmaker.
But it’s make-or-break for Da Gama and his team, and he will have to go for broke with his selection if Team SA are to advance to the next round and avoid a similar fate to that of the Class of 2000, who were knocked out in the group stages despite beating Brazil.
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