POLOKWANE – Three intellectually impaired soccer players from the province formed part of the national team that participated in the Inas Global Games in Brazil from August 13 to 23.
Justice Tshililo, Calvin Letsoalo and Tebogo Maboya and other players returned with silver medals from the championships.
The South African soccer team for intellectually impaired people is called Amaswanaswana.
South African finished second.
South Africa played their first match against Sweden and won 10-1. In the second match, they beat France 3-0, but lost 7-1 to Saudi Arabia in their third match.
They proceeded to the semi-finals where they beat Poland in the penalty shoot-outs. South Africa then faced Saudi Arabia in the finals, where they lost the match 4-2.
Letsoalo participated in all the matches and said he learned a lot.
“I am honoured to have been granted the opportunity to fly the South African flag in Brazil, and I learned a lot. It was not an easy tournament, but we managed to claim second place and that put the country on the map,” he said. He added that they had few training camps in Bloemfontein before flying to Brazil.
Tshililo said the team played well and that he looked forward to participate in the 2018 world championships, which will take place in Russia.
Maboya said being part of the national team meant a lot to him and thanked the team management for a job well done.
He added that playing in Brazil was a good experience and he too looked forward to the 2018 world championships.
