U23s one step closer to Olympics

SOUTH Africa’s U23s are not quite on the cusp of history yet, but by progressing to the eight-nation Olympic qualifying tournament in Senegal later this year they have given themselves a shot of qualifying for the Rio 2016 Olympics.

They earned their ticket to West Africa through an entertaining 3-0 win over their Zimbabwean counterparts in Pietermaritzburg on Saturday night.

The third qualifying round was completed yesterday despite defence issues that nearly allowed Zimbabwe to find a way back after the hosts took an early lead through Keagan Dolly.

While coach Owen da Gama was clearly happy with his team’s result, he conceded that they are only at 70% of where they are supposed to be.

They were without the likes of Menzi Masuku, who was on duty with Orlando Pirates in the Carling Black Label Cup, and Da Gama had to retread centre-back Zitha Macheke at right-back to counter Kudakwashe Mahachi.

“We are at 70% of where this team can be and we have a lot of quality in this country,’’ Da Gama said.

“We’ve got players of varying strengths and Macheke is not a rightback, but he did very well when he was asked to play in the position.

“I would love to see someone help him there and create some competition. We can also strengthen up front.

“We can get better and one of the only ways we can do that is to play matches against the top African Ghana Coast.

“We did start a bit jittery with our defence but we did the most important thing, which was to score first and early and that opened them up.”

With Algeria, Egypt, Zambia and Tunisia all booking places on Saturday, Da Gama’s wish for stronger opponents will be granted in Senegal. Zimbabwe went into the match on the back of a five-match winning streak.

Under Shakes Mashaba, the U23s reached the eight-nation tournament in Morocco in 2011 as they finished last in a group that contained Egypt, Gabon and Ivory Coast.

That highlights the difficult nature of the CAF qualifying competition as only the top three teams qualify automatically while the fourth-placed team has to engage Asian opposition for the right to go to the Olympics.

Da Gama needs credible opposition but he is happy with what he has, especially with what he called the patchwork nature of his side.

Then there was Dolly and his owning of the neighbours and the contribution of the other players Da Gama could not leave out.

“Keagan has been the top player as far as I see things, [and] he has been top notch in the past two games against Zimbabwe Da Gama said.

“He’s been the star player and we’ve given him a free role. We want him to express himself and play his game.

“With him being a confident player, his confidence has grown and he’s going to be a big player.”

countries like and the Ivory