SA U-23 Coach David Notoane Expects Difficult Olympics for South Africa!

SA U-23 Coach David Notoane Expects Difficult Olympics for South Africa! Amaglug-glug begin their Tokyo Olympics in less than an hour.

South Africa faces hosts Japan in their first Olympic group game. The camp has been hard hit with a coronavirus storm just as they were preparing for the tournament.

Key players Kamohelo Mahlatsi and Thabiso Monyane both tested positive for covid-19. They are now in isolation and will not participate in the competition group stages.

Coach David Notoane now fears for the chances that his team has in a group that possesses France, Mexico and Japan.

“Preparations have been very, very, very difficult. Very tough,” Notoane said to the media during the week.

“Very unusual also and indeed, we have experienced the full might of COVID-19, the new normal that we are living under. Of course, we came back from Egypt.

“And coming back from Egypt already the third wave was picking up. Then we made a decision to divert to Mpumalanga, where we had a very good eight-day camp.

“We came back to Joburg and then travelled to Tokyo full of hope, excitement that finally we can be in Tokyo and settle down and get used to the temperature, acclimatize properly and be ready for our first game on Thursday against Japan.

“But unfortunately, we had a total turn around. We came into Tokyo.

“We probably experienced the worst of COVID-19 that I’ve experienced since we started on this project after qualifying.

“So, ja, it’s what it is. We lost some players, right now we have also two players and a staff member in isolation.

“We were also in isolation, we just did our first session today (Tuesday), after seven days, you know, three days on the road in South Africa, from Nelspruit to Gauteng, and then from Gauteng to Tokyo is another two days, and then another two days of isolation with no training.

“So, it is tough, but it is what it is, you know, we must pick ourselves up, finally, we got our first session, I could see the boys were huffing and puffing as expected. So ja, Japan is before us, it is going to be a war, you know, that is what it is, we’re in a war zone.”

SA U-23 Coach David Notoane Expects Difficult Olympics for South Africa!