MZANSI’S national Under-23 team are determined to end their 15-year Olympic Games drought.
Their quest to emulate the class of 2000 begins tomorrow with a tricky encounter with host nation Senegal at the Caf U-23 Africa Cup of Nations in Dakar – the eight-nation event doubling as Olympic qualifiers.
Young Bafana open their campaign against the Senegalese at Stade Leopold Sedar Senghor tomorrow at 5pm SA time.
They were drawn in Group A with neighbours Zambia, Senegal and Tunisia, and Owen Da Gama and his lads will be gunning for victories in all their matches.
The big incentive is the opportunity to participate in the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2016 – with the top three teams at the competition guaranteed an Olympic berth.
Young Bafana last qualified for the Sydney Olympics in Australia in 2000, and qualification this time around could signal a turning point for SA football.
SA national teams have a history of starting tournaments on a low note, which often leads to early elimination.
- At the Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea in January, Bafana Bafana started with a 3-1 defeat to Algeria and never recovered, bowing out in the group stages.
- The Under-17 side lost their opening match 2-1 to Costa Rica at the U-17 World Cup in Chile in October, ultimately also bowing out of their group.
However, a great start against the west Africans would inject some confidence into Young Bafana ahead of their match against Zambia four days later.
Victory is non-negotiable for Da Gama’s charges, as defeat would make their goal of surviving the group difficult. The coach believes, however, that this is the best team assembled in Mzansi in recent years.
Mamelodi Sundowns star Keagan Dolly is the team’s talisman, while Rivaldo Coetzee will provide the leadership and share the experience gained with Bafana.
Phumulani Ntshangase of Bidvest Wits, and Abbubaker Mobara and Ryaad Norodien of Ajax Cape Town will run the show in midfield.
Up-front Young Bafana have deadly finishers in the form of new kid on the block Phakamani Mahlambi, who has scored four goals for Wits in the league, and Siphelele Ntshangase of Black Leopards, a proven goal-scorer who was lethal in the qualifiers.
Even though Da Gama’s charges have not played a friendly against any west African opposition to prepare, their warm-up matches against Egypt and Tunisia yielded positive results.
Da Gama said: “There is no excuse not to qualify.”
The South Africans held their first training session midweek and will be back on the field this afternoon before facing Senegal tomorrow.
“The moment we have been waiting for is upon us,” said SA Football Association national executive committee member Nomsa Mahlangu, who heads Mzansi’s Senegal delegation.
“We have arrived. I can see everyone is itching for action. That is a good sign.”
