Amajimbos star Emile Witbooi has identified the fatal flaw that extinguished South Africa’s dream at the FIFA U-17 World Cup.
SA under 17 were eliminated from the World Cup by Japan after suffering a disappointing 3-0 defeat in the Round of 32 on Saturday in Doha, Qatar.
Reflecting on the tournament, Witbooi, who scored two goals in the competition, says he was pleased with the valuable experience they acquired.
“It’s a big experience to come play here against the best players in the world,” Witbooi told SAFA Media.
“It just showed us yesterday [on Saturday against Japan] how far we are from being among the best. So, it has been a great experience.”
However, Witbooi believes their downfall stemmed from a lack of teamwork, especially in the match with Japan. He felt the opponents did that better than them throughout the match.
“Coming out from this tournament, what I learnt is if you don’t play as a team, you won’t make it,” he added.
“Yesterday, Japan for 90 minutes, they played as a team, they ran as a team. And as for us, we can see, we played in quarters. We can see it was not enough.
“I learnt one thing from Fortune Makaringe, he told me that the purpose of being in a team is greater than an individual.
“So, yeah, we have to do more [of that], it’s not about as [individual] players, it’s about the team. We have to give our all and fight for the badge, but unfortunately, especially against Japan, it was not enough, not at all.”
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