Two exceptional SA talents for two very different eras
IN THE build-up to the Olympics, soccer writer Njabulo Ngidi profiles one of South Africa’s players in Rio and Matshelane Mamabolo reminisces about a member of the Class of 2000 who played in a similar position. Today they look at Tyroane Sandows and Quinton Fortune, players who made it big abroad without having to earn their stripes in the local league.
A DEVILISH grin, with his braces showing, covered Tyroane Sandows’s face as he reminisced about the time he and Keagan Dolly formed a deadly partnership at Westbury Arsenal, wiping the floor with their opponents.
The only thing that stopped them, because defenders couldn’t, was both players joining the School of Excellence, where Sandows didn’t stay that long.
“It was a very powerful combination,” Sandows said. “We were young kids having fun.
“It was made more special by the fact that we won a lot of our games with big scores.
“Hopefully that combination can work again now that there is the responsibility of helping South Africa.”
They will carry that responsibility in the national under-23 team in the Olympics hosted by Brazil, a place that Sandows has called home for almost a decade. He was supposed to stay there for a week when he went there for the first time.
Ty, as his friends call him, was one of 12 boys who went to the Sao Paulo academy in 2006 from the School of Excellence through Shona Khona – a skills development programme.
He was asked to return the following year on a full-time basis. He stayed there until 2014 before moving to his current club, Gremio.
The first few months were tough because of the language barrier. But he learnt Portuguese in a year. When he speaks, his speech is peppered with a Portuguese accent.
“They found foster parents for me who spoke English when I arrived,” Sandows said.
“They helped me adapt. I went to schools where they taught in English while I learnt Portuguese. After learning the language everything else became easier.”
That makes the 21-year-old an important asset. He will serve as a translator for the rest of his teammates because he can pick up what the Brazilian players will be saying to each other in their opening match in Group A on August 4. Denmark and Iraq complete that group.
Sandows also knows what to expect from a Brazil squad that is made up of mostly local players, including his Gremio teammate Wallace.
The role he will play with that information will be similar to the job he does on the field, making his teammates look good as a playmaker.
His game is effortless, with skills that are a mix of South African flair and Brazil’s joga bonito. South Africans who didn’t see him exhibiting his skills in the Under-20 African Youth Championship in Senegal last year will see them in the Olympics.
“Football is a collective sport. I try to make the other players look good, especially as a No 10. That’s my role. That’s what I’m about.
“I will be helping the team. If that means passing to another teammate so that they can score, then so be it. I’ve always gone about my life without the desire to be the star and be noticed.
“I just want to enjoy my football and make others shine.”
Brazilians haven’t enjoyed football in a long time, especially in the Olympics, where their all-conquering nature hasn’t been present.
Their troubles were laid bare when Germany hammered their senior national team 7-1 in the semi-finals of the World Cup on home soil. Sandows was there when Brazil mourned that defeat.
“That just increases the pressure on them,” he said. “Everybody was devastated.
“Losing the World Cup, the way they lost it at home, that just broke the people. They have a chance to make amends for that by winning a gold medal for the first time, which is something that they have never done. We need to make the most of the pressure that will be on them.”
Sandows would wear an even bigger grin if they could defeat Brazil.
For Quinton Fortune the Olympics should not really have been a big deal. He had, after all, achieved just about every player’s dream before South Africa’s debut at the Games in 2000.
The Capetonian had long made it in Europe, having played and won titles in Spain and having called the Theatre of Dreams that was Old Trafford his home as a Manchester United player. Add to that the fact that he had been to the World Cup (France 1998) before the trip Down Under and it was incredible that the left-footer gave his all on the not-so-glamorous fields of the continent as he helped Amaglug-glug earn their ticket to Sydney 2000.
Already a key member of Bafana Bafana during the Olympic qualifiers, Fortune was among those players who were made by Safa to miss the away qualifier against Cameroon to great detriment.
The 0-2 loss that South Africa suffered in Yaounde robbed the squad of automatic qualification and left them needing to win play-offs against New Zealand.
Fortune’s influence on the squad was evidenced by the failure of Shakes Mashaba’s team to progress to the knockout stages – thanks to Fortune’s suspension for the final group match against Slovakia, which South Africa lost.
Before that match he had been sublime in that fantastic defeat of Brazil, during which he dictated the match and topped off his great showing with a splendid free-kick goal. That he went on to score at the 2002 World Cup and got a position at Manchester United after his retirement confirmed his status as one of the country’s true stars.