Can U23s embarrass Brazilians?
THE South African U23 football team at the Olympic Games seem set to meet a Brazil team either on the verge of a spectacular rebound‚ or an equally volcanic implosion.
Brazil are putting a lot of emphasis on winning the men’s tournament in August as hosts of the Rio Games. South Africa will hope perhaps too much.
Selecao coach Dunga‚ given a choice by Barcelona of taking their 24-year-old star Neymar either to this month’s Copa America in the USA or allowing him to be part of U23 coach Rogerio Micale’s Olympic squad as an overage player‚ opted for the latter.
The Olympics are the only major football tournament Brazil have not won.
The pressure to win the Games gold medal at home has increased in the wake of Brazil’s disastrous World Cup on home soil in 2014‚ where the planet’s most-decorated national football team crashed to their most embarrassing defeat – the 7-1 humbling by Germany in the semifinals.
That loss ripped the soul out of Brazilian football‚ which has shown signs of decline in a tormented 25-year wrestle between the benefits of the country’s traditions of beautiful football versus pragmatic football‚ despite World Cup victories in 1994 and 2002.
That pressure has been increased by Dunga’s Neymar-less senior Brazil crashing out of the Copa America – arguably the more prestigious tournament than the Olympic men’s event‚ where U23 teams allowed to field three overage players compete – in the first round last week.
These factors‚ along with the pressure that can often balance the home-ground advantage gained by hosting a major tournament‚ appear set to produce one of two results from Brazil at the Olympics.
Either they will explode into wounded action on the rebound and win the tournament, or they will self-implode and limp to another international embarrassment.
Which seems to make it crucial for the SA U23s to take the game to Brazil‚ and crank up the pressure in the always fragile atmosphere of a host nation’s opening match of a tournament‚ at Estadio Nacional Mane Garrincha in Brasilia on August 4.
Lebogang Phiri has recent first-hand experience against the Olympic hosts‚ having played 90 minutes for the SA U23 team that lost 3-1 to Brazil in a friendly in Maceio in late March.
The Brondby midfielder says the first game could be crucial for Owen da Gama’s Young Bafana in a group including Denmark and Iraq.
“It’s a tough group. Any group in the Olympics is tough ‚” he said.
“The fact that we have Denmark‚ Iraq and Brazil means that we have to bring our ‘A’ game.
“Most people think Iraq are going to be a pushover, but they have a really strong team. They have a group of players based in Europe‚ a lot of them playing in Germany.
“Danish football in the Superliga is quite physical. But a lot of their players are based abroad‚ so they’re accustomed to a much higher level of international football.
“But I think if we bring our South African style of play‚ and also try to be tactically good in terms of defending‚ we can give Denmark a big test.
“So it’s going to be a tough tournament for us. We have to concentrate on the first game – playing against the host nation.” Among the starlets Micale can call on are Arsenal-linked Gabriel “Gabigol” Barbosa‚ who signed for Santos at eight years old‚ and Lazio’s Manchester United target Felipe Anderson‚ who scored against South Africa in March.
