‘We gave it our all’ – Motupa

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epa05463514 Gift Motupa of South Africa during the men's preliminary round group A match between Denmark and South Africa of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games Soccer tournament at the Mane Garrincha Stadium in Brasilia, Brazil, 07 August 2016. EPA/ANDRESSA ANHOLETE BRAZIL OUT
  • Post published:August 11, 2016

South Africa U23 midfield star Gift Motupa remains proud his side’s efforts despite a group stage exit at the Rio Olympics.

Motupa has described the tournament as a learning experience as they failed to win any of their three games but impressively held a star-studded Brazil side to a goalless draw while down to 10 men.

Two draws and a defeat ultimately weren’t good enough, however, as the 1-1 stalemate with Iraq on Wednesday confirmed the side would not progress to the knockout phase.

Perhaps the biggest shortcoming the side faced was its lack of composure in front of goal as Motupa netted South Africa’s solitary strike in the whole tournament.

‘All I can say is that both teams played very well, except for us we wanted it more than them so that we could win the game. But we gave it our all, that’s all I can say,’ Motupa told KickOff.

‘I think we did our best so far although we didn’t qualify for the quarter-finals. But we did our best as a team and we learnt a lot in this kind of tournament,’ the midfielder concluded.