Mdaka sees Algeria friendlies as key preparation for South Africa U23 qualifiers

South Africa U23 coach Raymond Mdaka says the two international friendlies against Algeria will provide valuable preparation for a demanding period that includes U23 Africa Cup of Nations and Olympic qualifying matches.

South Africa will begin their U23 AFCON qualifying campaign next month against Madagascar, who advanced to the next stage after Comoros withdrew from the competition.

The Algeria matches will also help Mdaka assess his squad before another round of Olympic qualifiers that will follow the current qualifying programme.

“We really felt it’s a very good opportunity for us to have a friendly match before we could go for the official qualifying games,” Mdaka said.

“On the basis that normally when we would have loved to talk about proper progression we would be saying the group that played in the previous World Cup or AFCON or the previous group of the under 20 would be 80% or 90% of the players would be part of this team.

“But at the same time we need to understand the dynamics and what happens in between. We felt it’s a better opportunity for us to do justice to some of the players that were there who gave us good results but at the same time open a bit of an eye to look at those who were not there.

“Those that we feel can be able to close the gaps that are there. Going forward obviously we might have given somebody a chance who was in the AFCON but you find that there are those that can do much better than him, then we proceed with him for the sake of the national team.”

The first meeting with Algeria takes place at the Dr Petrus Molemela Stadium, with Mdaka facing a difficult selection decision after assembling a squad containing several high-profile players.

The coach, who guided Amajita to an African title at U20 level, accepts that choosing a balanced team from the available options will be one of the most demanding aspects of the camp.

“There’s people who always say it’s a very good headache but it’s one of the difficult challenges that we are facing because there’s no way you’ll have to do what we call squad composition and balance it,” he said.

“You’ll find that in one area you have more than four players but you cannot take the four players in one position on the basis that you balance the team.

“So, we go deep into profiling to say who can do best in that particular spot and in relation to who in terms of how we want to play. So it’s a very good but very bad, difficult challenge but I think it’s something that we’ll always try to work on and make sure that we get the best combination that can be able to give us good results.”