WHEN Fiji’s U23 midfielder Ratu Savenaca Nakalevu donned his No. 10 jersey before he marched out into the Fonte Nova Arena in Salvador, Brazil, there was nothing else on this 22-year-old’s mind.
Not the fear or anxiety that brewed while in camp in Namosau, Ba, weeks before when they learnt of the teams in their pool.
As he eloquently puts it, for any sportsmen or women, when they put on their jersey, “we worry about nothing else but to fight for our country”.
“We do not even worry about the big names in the opposing teams that we are going to play,” Nakalevu told this newspaper in an interview in Belo Horizonte.
“When I was given the jersey to wear for the first time at the Olympics, all the fear I had for the other teams disappeared. Instead, what came into me was a feeling of pride and I was confident and ready to face those big teams we were lined up to play to fight for my country that day.”
