Tercious Malepe has played down suggestions that South Africa's failure to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations has put more pressure on the national U23 team ahead of next month's Olympic Games.
South Africa are set to travel to Japan next month in order to compete at the 2020 Summer Olympic Games, where David Notoane's side have been drawn alongside Mexico, France and the host nation in Group A.
The tournament arrives just months after Bafana Bafana failed to qualify for the 2021 CAF Africa Cup of Nations, having finished in third place behind Ghana and Sudan in their qualifying group, and all eyes will be on Notoane's side as they seek to restore a semblance of national pride.
However, for South Africa U23 captain Malepe, the senior team's failures have not added any additional pressure on him and his teammates ahead of the competition, and he is optimistic that the country's fortunes will improve in the future.
"Regardless of what is happening, the game is a game of 90 minutes," Malepe told snl24.com/kickoff. "There is pressure in football. We all chose to become footballers and football comes with its own pressures."
"From the spectators' point of view, they can say things. We will always be judged. But, for me, I believe the nation did well in terms of trying by all means [to qualify for AFCON].
"I've played across Africa and it's easy for someone who hasn't been in such conditions to say they are not playing well, but for me, as a footballer, I know what it takes to go and play in a foreign country where conditions are totally different.
"You need to adapt, and you need to be at your best. It's not easy. But [as a nation] we are trying, and we are getting better with time. I don't expect us to go from zero straight to one hundred but it's a process that I believe in.
"If you go back, South Africa qualified for the U20 World Cup in 2017, the generation after us qualified again. In 2016, with the likes of Keagan Dolly, we went to the Olympics, now our generation qualified again for the Olympics.
"So, as a country as a whole, we are doing well. Our football is really improving, and we are doing good for the nation. It won't happen quickly, but with time I believe that South Africa will be at every single tournament."
This article is adapted from the full interview with Tercious Malepe in the June edition of Kick Off Magazine. The latest copy can be purchased online here or in store for R25 and includes more great content ahead of the Olympic Games.