What Mdaka hopes to achieve in successive Algeria friendlies

SA U23 men’s national team coach Raymond Mdaka hopes his side will gel for the Olympic Games qualifiers, as he has a strong team for back-to-back friendlies against Algeria.

Mdaka’s charges host Algeria at Dr Petrus Molemela Stadium in Bloemfontein on Thursday and Sunday at 3pm.

The friendly matches form part of their preparations for the Olympic qualifiers in November and December. “We strongly believe that tomorrow we will be better than today. We really feel it’s a great opportunity for us to have a friendly match before we go to the official qualifying games,” he said.

Mdaka revealed what he is hoping to achieve in the friendlies.

We strongly believe that tomorrow we will be better than today – Raymond Mdaka, SA U23 men’s national team coach

“Normally when we talk about proper progression, we would be saying the group that played in the previous World Cup and Afcon from the U20 would be 80% or 90% of the players that will be part of this team,” Mdaka said.

“It is a good opportunity for us to do justice to some who were there before and gave us good results, and also open a bit of an eye to look at those who were not there and feel they can close the gap. We are always doing something. What we do today cannot be compared to what we can do next week.”

The squad includes Luke Baartman, Faiz Abrahams, Camren Dansin, Simphiwe Selepe, Mpho Padime, Neo Rapoo, Gomolemo Kekana, Mfundo Vilakazi, Kutlwano Letlhaku and Quwani Plaatjies, among others.

Mdaka said he will have a “good headache” selecting a starting 11 and that he will try to balance the team. “People will always say it’s a very good headache, but it’s one of the difficult challenges that we are facing [in terms of the team’s composition and balance],” he said.

“So, it is a very good and bad, difficult challenge, but it is always something that we will try to work on and make sure we get the best combination that can give us good results.”