Keagan Dolly and his South African Under-23 team will be wondering just exactly how Denmark beat them 1-0 at the Rio Olympics on Sunday night.
Captain Dolly and his side had countless goal-scoring chances to bury the Danes at the Mané Garrincha Stadium in Brasilia, but couldn’t make it count on the night as the European nation boosted their prospects of advancing to the next round significantly.
Now South Africa’s chances of qualifying hang by a thread, and they will have to rely on other Group A results going their way, starting with the Brazil-Iraq clash later on Monday morning SA time.
Coach Owen da Gama will be hoping for another draw for Brazil and then a Denmark victory over the host nation next Wednesday, which could open things up for South Africa if they can overcome Iraq in their last group game.
But they were left to rue their lack of precision in front of goal against Denmark as the speed and skill of the South Africans left the defence scrambling.
Dolly was the main instigator once more, using his pace to great effect as he combined well with Gift Motupa on attack. Motupa went close as early as the seventh minute after a good interchange with Dolly, but the shot was well-saved by Danish goalkeeper Jeppe Hojbjerg.
The Danes also had a few opportunities on goal in the opening 45 minutes, with their best chance in the 22nd minute coming after they beat South Africa’s offside trap. However, Frederik Borsting didn’t realise how much space he was in without a defender in sight, and headed the ball over the crossbar when he had the time to control it first with just Itumeleng Khune to beat.
Just four minutes later, Dolly created a wonderful opening for Motupa by latching on to a long ball, but the big No 14 struck the ball against the crossbar to waste arguably South Africa’s best chance of the night.
Khune saved the day again two minutes later when he saved from Denmark captain Lasse Vibe at point-blank range. That was how the game ebbed and flowed from box to box, and Dolly nearly opened the scoring with an audacious 30-yard pile-driver that was tipped on to the bar by Hojbjerg.
South Africa piled forward in the second half as well, but they didn’t enjoy any luck upfront.
And then disaster struck in the 69th minute, with Erick Mathoho caught ball-watching outside the box as a long through-ball found Jacob Bruun Larsen, who swept forward into the box with just Rivaldo Coetzee to beat.
Vibe ran into space behind Coetzee, with Larsen cutting the ball back to Robert Skov, who was unmarked inside the area and hit the ball with his left foot to beat Khune, who got a touch but couldn’t kept it out with his feet.
Where the South African defensive line had been so solid up to that point, it was inexplicable how Larsen and then Skov were not closed down as a momentary lapse of concentration cost Da Gama’s team the match.
Motupa lined up a 74th-minute free kick from just outside the box and produced a thunderous shot, but it was straight at goalkeeper Hojbjerg, who punched it away, and six minutes later it was a similar outcome for Motupa from a long-range shot.
And even though the SA coach had sent on the likes of Tashreeq Morris, Phumlani Ntshangase and Menzi Masuku to bolster the attack in the second half, it was to no avail as even a late flurry of corners came to nought.
The match ended comically for South Africa as first Abbubaker Mobara (left hamstring) and then Mathoho (knee) had to be helped off the field with two minutes to go, which reduced the team to nine players.
But it seemed as if fate conspired against Dolly and his team, and now the situation is out of their hands, with just the final group game to come against Iraq (Thursday morning 3am SA time).
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