South Africa have exited the men’s competition at the Tokyo Olympics after a 3-0 loss to Mexico on Wednesday saw them finish bottom of their pool without a point from their three games.
As it turned out, South Africa would have advanced to the quarterfinals with a 2-0 win, but battled against a strong Mexican side and will now return home.
Alexis Vega gave Mexico the lead on 17 minutes, and were further behind just before the break as Luis Romo added a second.
Things went from bad to worse for coach David Notoane’s side when captain Tercious Malepe picked up a second yellow card and was sent-off, reducing them to 10 men.
When Henry Martin added a third for Mexico soon afterwards, the game was up.
