Notoane reveals reasons behind Under-23 camp

Following a week-long camp with the South African Under-23 squad, head coach David Notoane says the main intention of the camp was to assess players he might use for the upcoming Caf Under-23 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers.

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For the camp, Notoane selected a number of players who did duty for Bafana Bafana during the Cosafa Cup.

However, the Under-23 coach was cautious in his selection by widening the pool of players with the possibility of not getting the players he wants once the team has to get into action.

“I wanted to see where tactically the boys are and also we wanted to grow the pool taking into consideration the qualifiers will take place outside the Fifa week and might not get the players we want,” Notoane told Safa.net.

“Therefore, this camp was good in a number of areas, to have cohesion ahead of the qualifiers and to assess the players we might actually use.”

The South African Under-23 team will play the winner between Mauritania or Togo in the second round of the qualifiers in October.

Eight teams will compete at the Under-23 Afcon, with three top sides at the tournament qualifying for the 2024 Olympics.

South Africa has qualified for the Olympics three times before – firstly in Sydney, Australia 2000, followed by Rio, Brazil 2016 and in 2020 in Tokyo, Japan.