Da Gama has faith in the class of 2019

Owen Da Gama (above) believes David Notoane will take a superior South African side to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games than he had at his disposal at Rio 2016.

Notoane’s side qualified for Tokyo when they beat Ghana on Friday to finish third at the 2019 Caf Under-23 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt, the same position in which Da Gama’s side finished in 2015.

“It is going to be very tough at the Olympics and I hope they get the right players that are all available. They have got a much better team than we had with a lot of players playing regularly in the PSL,” said Da Gama yesterday.

“When we went we wanted to take three over-age players, and we picked (Erick) Mathoho, Itumeleng Khune and Andile Jali. But at the last minute Oostende refused to send Jali. All the other teams had overage players. Brazil had Neymar and Felipe Anderson.

“I think if we get all the players we want (in 2020) we can really go through to the group stages and after that anything is possible. It is probably one of the highlights of my career, playing against Brazil in the opening match with Neymar playing, it was a great experience, getting a result (0-0) against Brazil. Hopefully David (Notoane) will get a bit better preparation than us. When we went we played five preparation matches, and Brazil had played 18, it was chalk and cheese.”

Da Gama’s Highlands Park, meanwhile, will face Bidvest Wits this evening, as the Absa Premiership resumes following the international break.

“We were very happy for the international break, we had a lot of injuries and knocks, we played six games in three and a half weeks,” said Da Gama, adding that striker Rodney Ramagalela, midfielders Siphiwe Mahlangu and Lindokuhle Mbatha, as well as goalkeeper Marlon Heugh are all fit to face the Clever Boys.