Tough choices await Notoane

THE national Under-23 team’s 40-man provisional squad which coach David Notoane named for the Tokyo Olympics looks good on paper, but the odds are stacked against him to have every player available for the preparations and tournament.

Take nothing away from the fact that this is still a provisional squad, meaning that 18 players will be cut when Notoane announces his final squad – which will have four travelling reserves – a few weeks before the Games.

But the U23s’ last preparation camp in June, where he would have hoped to see all 40 players before choosing his final Olympic squad, might not go according to plan, given that Bafana Bafana will also be in camp, playing in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.

Notoane has selected seven overage players in his provisional squad – Percy Tau, Ronwen Williams, Themba Zwane, Mosa Lebusa, Ricardo Goss,

Mothobi Mvala and Thapelo Morena – albeit being only able to select three for his final squad.

Of course, Bafana takes priority – so Notoane has to be selfless.

But with Bafana still in search of a new coach after releasing Molefi Ntseki who failed to guide the team to the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations, Notoane still has to forge some relations with his new senior.

And that might take some time, especially if the new commander in chief is new to South African football. Despite that, whoever lands the Bafana head coaching role is already under pressure to hit the ground running in the World Cup qualifiers after the team’s misfortunes in reaching next year’s Afcon.

As a result, he will need his best players at his disposal. But despite the issue of the identity of Bafana’s next coach being unknown, the Olympics might be one of the projects under Fifa that doesn’t fall under their calendar. That has made it slightly difficult for clubs, especially those which are overseas-based, to release their players, given that the Games get under way during the middle of pre-season.

But again, Notoane cut a confident figure, saying they will do his best to get all the players.