The South African Under-23 side shouldn’t lack for preparation or previous experience in Friday night’s vital Eight Nations match against Tunisia.
The match will take place on the artificial turf of the Caroline Faye Stadium in Mbour, Senegal. The kick-off time has been amended and is now scheduled for 7pm SA time.
The South Africans need just a draw to finish second in Group A and secure a place in the semi-finals of an event in which the top three countries qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
But the main discussion point around Friday’s game is the fact that the venue has an astroturf surface, something South Africans have previously had a problem with.
In September this year, Bafana Bafana played Mauritania in Nouakchott on a synthetic surface and they came cruelly unstuck, losing 3-1. Afterwards, there was much criticism that the Bafana technical staff had blundered by not training on an astroturf before the fixture.
SA U23 coach Owen da Gama is also one of the Bafana assistant coaches and, as such, he will no doubt remember the occasion. He will have experience of the conditions and difficulties of playing on artificial grass. So too, of course, will Ajax Cape Town’s teenage defender Rivaldo Coetzee, who played in that embarrassing defeat to Mauritania.
Da Gama and Coetzee, therefore, will be able to pass on valuable advice to the U23s as the dream of qualifying for the Olympics continues. In fact Da Gama, having taken note of Bafana’s problems in Nouakchott, has made sure that the U23s are fully prepared for the astroturf.
“We have trained a lot (on such a surface) at the Football Centre in Soweto, and in Zimbabwe we also played on it,” said the SA U23 coach. “So the players are quite used to it, know what to expect, and what of type of equipment to use.
“We are relatively well versed with the artificial turf and, with our final session before the match being held at this stadium as well, it will just be a reminder to the players of how to adapt.”
After an opening defeat to hosts Senegal, South Africa got their campaign back on track with a fantastic 3-2 win over Zambia on Tuesday. The victory, coupled with Tunisia’s loss to Senegal, has brought the U23s right back into contention for a semi-final place.
Orlando Pirates duo Gift Motupa and Menzi Masuku were the heroes of the Zambia performance, but both refused to take any individual credit, insisting that it was a team effort.
“We don’t want to take the glory because I think we worked hard as a team,” said two-goal star Motupa. “The whole team showed a lot of commitment and that is why we got the result. It is not just about Menzi (Masuku) and I… the whole team played a crucial role in our victory, and we are hoping in the next game, we will all do the same.
“We are looking forward to the clash against Tunisia, which we know is not going to be easy. Both countries want to qualify for the semi-finals.
“We are expecting a tough match, but we are ready. We are mentally prepared and we need to work even harder than we did against Zambia.”
Masuku agreed with his Pirates teammate: “It is important to go into the match (against Tunisia) with a winning mentality.
“We are determined to qualify for the Rio Olympic Games, so this game will be important for the team as we want to progress to the next round of competition.
“We just have to remain humble and focus on our goal as a team. As long as we put our hearts in it, we have a good chance of doing well for ourselves and country.”
A decision has not yet been taken on the availability of Ajax utility man Abbubaker Mobara, who was injured in the win over Zambia. He has been in the care of the medical staff and Da Gama was scheduled to make the selection call after last night’s training session.
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