SA U-23s out to fulfil Olympic dream
● The SA Under-23 football team is one or two matches away from fulfilling their dream of qualifying for next year’s Tokyo Olympic Games. Their first hurdle is at the Cairo International Stadium on Tuesday at 8pm against hosts Egypt.
David Notoane’s team has to beat a very spirited Egyptian side, led by prolific goalscorer Mostafa Mohamed in the semifinals of the Caf’s eight-nation tournament.
Three top-finishing teams in this event will represent Africa in Tokyo 2020 and winning Tuesday’s game will earn SA successive appearances at the Games following their 2016 and 2000 gigs.
Though Notoane’s team did well to finish second in Group B, in which they played two 0-0 draws against Zambia and Nigeria and won 1-0 against Ivory Coast, the worrying factor is their poor scoring rate.
Egypt, on the other hand, have no such worries as they netted six goals in their three wins in Group A, with Mohamed scoring four.
Notoane’s team will do well to keep a close eye on the 21-year-old Zamalek striker in Tuesday’s match. They will also be up against the vociferous supporters of the home team.
Luckily for Notoane, a defeat in Tuesday’s match will not mean the end for his side as it can still book its place by winning the third place play-off on Friday against the losers of the Ivory Coast-Ghana match in the other semifinal on Tuesday.
Notoane, though, cannot afford to leave things for the Friday play-off because by then he would have lost a few of his players, who will be obliged to go back to their clubs after Tuesday’s match.
The tournament started outside of the Fifa international break and will end three days after it has elapsed.
Players like Kaizer Chiefs defender Siyabonga Ngezana may miss Friday’s playoff as his team is up against Maritzburg United at the Mbombela Stadium on Sunday in the second semifinal of the Telkom Knockout.
But SuperSport United coach Kaitano Tembo assured the Sunday Times during the week that Tebogo Mokoena, the scorer of the stupendous winning free kick against Ivory Coast, and his teammate Sipho Mbule will complete the tournament in Egypt because their club’s next league fixture is on November 30 against Stellenbosch FC.
It may be touch and go though for Notoane on keeping the services of his three overseas-based strikers, Luther Singh (Moreirense, Portugal), Lyle Foster (Cercle Brugge, Belgium) and Kobamelo Kodisang (Braga, Portugal).
“As I’m sitting here I can’t confirm that all the players that are here will be here after the end of the Fifa break [on Tuesday],” said Notoane when this question was fired at him immediately after Friday’s game.
“One thing for sure is that I will have them for the semifinal against Egypt.
“I will worry about whether they’re staying or going after we’ve done our job against Egypt.
“I’m sure that the respective clubs, once we go to the final, will do the right thing and just allow the players to enjoy the final.”
Notoane admitted that Egypt’s match will be more challenging than what they’ve faced so far in the tournament
“We will worry about Egypt, I think, from tomorrow [Saturday],” said Notoane.
“We knew that there’s a possibility of playing Egypt and we’ll prepare for a tougher game.
“It’s a final before the final but I believe that with the spirit we have in the team we’ll be able to get through to the final.”
For Tuesday’s game, Notoane said his team would find courage from the fact that, against all odds, Bafana Bafana managed to beat Egypt 1-0 through Thembinkosi Lorch’s goal in the last 16 of Afcon in July which also was hosted by the Egyptians.
“Naturally we know what the senior team has done in the Afcon and we can draw inspiration from the result which was of course not a happy moment for Egypt. Of course our job is try to go to the final.
“There’s a lot of emotion that will come into the game, but we’ve got a dream to qualify for the Olympics. So we must do what we have to do.”
It’s a final before the final but ... we’ll get through
David Notoane
SA under-23 coach