SA U23s humiliated by Mexico
THE South African Under-23s humiliatingly bowed out of the Tokyo Olympics following a 3-0 defeat to Mexico in their final group stage game yesterday afternoon.
As is characteristic of the majority of South African men’s teams - with the exception of Mamelodi Sundowns - the basics were not adhered to, causing the Mexicans to win the game without breaking a sweat.
An ugly exchange of words involving profanity in the second half between SA goalkeeper Ronwen Williams and defender Luke Fleurs was captured on the television audio and was a symbolic reflection of SA’s play in the game.
Mexico dominated from start to finish, scoring their goals through Alexis Vega and Luis Romo in the first half before Henry Martin completed the rout in the second.
David Notoane’s side barely threatened Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa as they were frustrated by the organisation and precise passing of the North Americans.
Vega opened the scoring in the 18th minute as Mexico made their dominance count. Uriel Antuna produced some good work from the out side to play in Vega, who simply tapped the ball into the net.
Mexico’s second goal on the stroke of halftime was gifted to them as an attempted headed clearance from Teboho Mokoena ended up moving backwards and into the path of Romo who slotted beyond Williams.
The South Africans seemed to be getting frustrated by their more organised and structured opponents, committing some poorly-timed and executed challenges in an attempt to win back possession.
Katlego Mahomme received a booking early in the first half for a poorly-timed challenge. Things went from bad to worse for SA in the 56th minute when captain Repo Malepe was shown a red card after a VAR check following a reckless challenge on Martin, a player who posed problems for the SA defence.
Initially shown a yellow card, Malepe was given his marching orders following the VAR check and rightfully did not protest, which indicated that he must have been aware of what was to follow.
Martin got onto the scoresheet himself in the 60th minute, blasting in a shot into the corner of the net which gave Williams no chance of saving.
Just six minutes later, both teams were reduced to 10 men after Mexico’s Carlos Rodriguez was given a straight red card.
While some may take positives from SA’s 4-3 loss to France in their second group stage game on Sunday, the reality is that the French team which played in that game was a fourth string line-up and one which SA should have beaten.
Andre Pierre-Gignac who scored a hat-trick for France against SA is not a prolific striker and is on the verge of retirement, so Notoane’s team should be embarrassed for allowing him to punish them and look like a goal poacher extraordinaire.
Meanwhile, yesterday’s result ensured that Mexico advanced to the quarter-finals as Group A runnersup. Japan advanced to the knockout stage as group winners after thumping France 4-0 in their final game.