Mdaka on SA’s wealth of talent as U23 Olympic qualifiers squad takes shape

The new SA U23 team, who will play their first Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) U23 qualifiers in September this year, assembled for the first time this week. 

Mdaka reveals that the focus has been on building the new team...

"We know when we talk about the U23 team we have to look at the U20 team that went to the World Cup. What we also wanted to do was to stretch and look at other players who haven't been in the national team setup before."

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Mdaka says that they have formed this team around the Amajita players who won the AFCON U20 tournament in Egypt last year and played in the FIFA U20 World Cup in Chile. 

Some of the overseas-based players like Shandre Campbell, Tylon Smith, Fletcher Lowe-Smyth, and Lazola Maku will be selected for the next camp in September.

Mdaka is doubling up as the U20 and U23 head coach together with his technical team, assisted by Karabo Mogudi.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) still has to conduct the draw for the AFCON U23 qualifiers, which will be played from September, with the final tournament held next year to determine the two teams that will represent the continent in LA.

This new U23 team also face the possibility of entering their first qualifying matches without having played a training or international friendly match, but Mdaka says the focus is on qualifying at this stage.

"I understand the challenges in terms of the FIFA calendar and the programmes of the teams. They are in pre-season now and you know the difficulty is having players who are in the PSL, and these are the players you have to give the opportunity to. Beyond this age they might not get the opportunity so we will see if we can force things and work it out."