Mophela Primary School, representing South Africa at the Danone Nations Cup World Finals in New York, won one and lost two of their preliminary pool matches on Friday and go into the group that will contest positions 17 to 32 on Saturday.
They beat the team from England 3-2,
but went down 2-0 to the UAE and 3-0 to Indonesia, to finish 3rd in
their pool
Although it is disappointing that they
never progressed to the top half of the draw, there were some positives, the
main one being that they are not that far behind the other nations in terms of
skill and physicality.
The main difference is that they lack
the self-confidence to take their chances when they present themselves, and
they are sometimes guilty of over-elaborating, dribbling for a moment too long
and often losing possession as a result.
There were two very distinct
differences in playing styles between the UAE team and the South African boys.
The SA team was extremely skilful and often did little tricks to get past their
opposition, while the UAE was a very well trained and well-structured team.
South Africa dominated territory and
possession and had many chances in the game but they did not take advantage of
any of them. The UAE had fewer chances and managed to score two goals on the
counter attack.
The second match for South Africa was
against England, another team that had also lost their first match. South
Africa dominated the match and went up 3-1 in no time, thanks to a hat trick by
Njabulo Ndlovu, who has proved to be a revelation in the USA. They then made a
couple of substitutions that nearly cost them the game. It was important,
however, that all the players got a chance to play and that they feel part of
the tournament.
The substitutions disrupted the
structures in defense and South Africa was caught out by not following a
fundamental rule in defense and that is to clear the ball out of the box. As
soon as England scored and narrowed the gap to 3-2 they went on the attack,
South Africa were in total disarray.
South Africa tried hard to pull
themselves together and managed to keep their advantage. If there were another
5 minutes in the game, the score might have been different.
The biggest lessons of the day were
learned in the final match. Indonesia’s strategy was very simple. Defend
solidly, and try not to concede a goal. And when they did get the ball they
passed it to their number 11 who was a very special player.
South Africa started off well. They
had two or three chances that they were not able to take advantage of and at
one stage they must have been wondering what was so amazing about this
Indonesian team. Then the Indonesians managed to get to ball to their number
11.
He is a giant of a boy, 1,80m tall,
with great pace and ball control. The first goal came from a corner. No matter how hard the South African defense
tried they could not stop the Indonesian number 11 from scoring. Shortly
afterwards South Africa had two chances to equalise but could not convert.
The Indonesians scored their second goal
also off a corner. Once again the team
could not stop the Indonesian number 11 from scoring his brace. Their third
goal came a minute later when the number 11 broke on the right hand side of the
field and drew the whole South African defense before chipping the ball to one
of his team mates who easily put the ball into the net.
Coach Syabonga Ndimande said that the
team has learned from their games. The main thing is that they do not have to
feel intimidated on the field and that they should play positive football and
try to score goals.
“We need to build our confidence and
take our chances and we can do well in the playoff games,” he said.
ends
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