SA Under-23’s to face hosts Japan in Tokyo

The South African Under-23 team have been drawn in Group A at the Tokyo Olympics, with battles against Japan, Mexico and France in line for them.

But head coach David Notoane (above) believes the team can make it out of the group stages with good preparation.

The squad learned who their opponents would be following the draw held at Fifa headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland yesterday.

“We now finally know the identity of our opponents. I think it is a good draw looking at other groups. So, I think it’s a group in which, with good preparation and application, we can reach the knockout stages,” said the SA Under-23 coach.

“At a glance one should be very happy with how the draw came out. We look forward to playing at the Tokyo Stadium, which is also a plus because it’s the base of the Olympics. We are happy to be based in Tokyo and very excited to start focusing on preparation now knowing who our opponents are.”

This will be the third time the SA Under-23 squad will be competing at the global multi-sports event, their first appearance having been in Sydney in 2000, where they made the quarterfinals, while in Brazil in 2016 they failed to make it beyond the group phase.

Notoane’s charges will be locking horns with London 2012 winners Mexico.

Hosts Japan have qualified for the games seven times now, with their best finish being fourth place in 2012.

The French return to the mens Olympic football tournament for the first time since 1996, where they were knocked out 2-1 in the quarterfinals by Portugal.

But the French have won the gold medal before, topping the podium in 1984 in Los Angeles.

The tournament is set to start on 21 July and run until 7 August.

Reigning champions Brazil were drawn with 2016 runners-up Germany, the Ivory Coast and Saudi Arabia.

Group C includes Egypt, Spain, Argentina and Australia, while Group B has South Korea, New Zealand, Romania and Honduras.

In the women’s draw fourtime champions the USA feature against Sweden, Australia and New Zealand while hosts Japan face Great Britain, Canada and Chile.