Mdaka demands more from South Africa U23s after Madagascar win

South Africa U23 coach Raymond Mdaka said his side must improve after a narrow 1-0 victory over Madagascar in the opening match of their 2028 Olympic Games qualifying tie.

Quwan Plaatjies came off the bench to score late in the second half at Lucas Moripe Stadium on Saturday, giving Amaglug-glug an away goal in a match officially designated as Madagascar’s home fixture.

Madagascar are unable to host international Olympic qualifying matches because they do not have suitable facilities that meet CAF and Fifa standards. The first leg was therefore played in Pretoria.

Mdaka believed South Africa should have taken a more substantial advantage into Tuesday’s return match, having created opportunities against a determined Madagascar team.

“I think had we converted the few chances we got, it should have given us that leverage a bit, so we ended up being frustrated because sometimes when you want goals, and they are not coming, it is frustrating,” Mdaka told the media after the match.

“But all good for us, and we are looking forward to the next game on Tuesday.”

The second leg will be played at Lucas Moripe Stadium at 8pm on Tuesday. The winners will progress to the third round, where they will face either Rwanda or Cameroon.

Mdaka warned his players that the tie remains undecided and said they would need to show greater commitment in the return fixture.

“You always think twice about playing Angola, Zambia or Mozambique. Honestly, I think there is a lot of improvement among the teams that we are playing against,” he said.

“You can also attest to that with what you saw from Madagascar. There is no team that you can look down on … They are very good. Football has improved a lot among the Cosafa [teams].”

The coach also said the first meeting had given his technical team valuable information about Madagascar, who had been largely unknown to South Africa before the opening match.

“For the technical team, at least we’ve got something to work off. Opponents cannot change overnight, so seeing them once means 50% of what we are doing is already mapped out,” Mdaka said.

He explained that Madagascar had entered the game with a clearer understanding of South Africa’s approach, while his own team had not been able to conduct a technical analysis of their opponents.

“We went into this game without any technical analysis of the opposition. They were a closed book, very closed, whereas they knew all about us,” he said.

“What we gathered from the first leg will help us understand the kind of players we are up against and their style of play.”