Cape Town - Ajax Cape Town goalkeeper Jody February is hoping that some stellar performances for South Africa at next month's Olympic Games will boost his club career and possibly even open doors for an overseas move.
Despite his obvious talents, February has taken part only a handful of games for the Ajax first team over the last two seasons, the 20-year-old having played second fiddle to the more experienced Finnish goalkeeper, Anssi Jaakkola, while also battling it out for a place on the bench with another of the club's promising young shot-stoppers, Brandon Peterson.
But with Jaakkola having recently signed for English Championship side Reading FC, February now has a very good opportunity to cement himself as the Cape side's Number One, especially if he can catch the eye for his country in Brazil.
“I do think I am ready and whenever I have been called up to play I have been there and I have been able to help the club. Now I am looking forward to playing at the Olympics and then I will see what happens after that,” he said.
“Most players in South Africa dream of playing in Europe and playing at the Olympics will certainly allow me to showcase my ability. It is really a dream come true. I think next to the World Cup it is the biggest tournament that a player can play at and if I make the squad and then have an opportunity to play it will be the highlight of my career so far.”
February will be competing with the vastly more experienced Itumeleng Khune for a place in the starting XI in Rio, the Kaizer Chiefs and former Bafana Bafana captain included as one of South Africa's over-age players by coach Owen Da Gama.
Should February find himself on the bench, the player could certainly be justified in feeling hard-done-by. This is because it was his heroics that earned South Africa a place in the Olympics after they managed to finish third at last year's Under-23 African Cup of Nations tournament.
Needing to beat hosts Senegal in the play-off for the final qualification berth, and having lost to Senegal in their opening group game of the tournament, the odds had appeared heavily stacked against South Africa.
But February stood up on the day by putting in a performance of mammoth proportions in a game in which the west African side dominated through, the Ajax youngster keeping out a 75th-minute penalty before going on to save an incredible three of Senegal's four spot kicks in the shoot-out after extra time.
It certainly enhanced his reputation, but February says he prefers not to take all the credit for his country's qualification. “Of course, I can understand that people think I was the hero, but it was really a team effort,” he explained.
“It was the whole team that got us to the play-offs. Yes, maybe I saved the decisive penalties, but we really did it together.”
South Africa find themselves in Group A, which includes hosts Brazil, as well as Denmark and Iraq, and February is hoping to possibly find himself playing against some of global football's biggest names, Bayern Munich's Douglas Costa and Barcelona's Neymar included.
“Whoever we will face will be tough,” he pointed out. “Having said that, Brazil will no doubt use some of their top international stars as their overage players, so we could be facing some big names.”
African News Agency