South Africa U23s gain confidence from Algeria friendlies before Madagascar qualifiers

South Africa’s U23 side are better prepared for their 2028 Olympic Games qualifying campaign after two friendlies against Algeria, assistant coach Karabo Mogudi says.

Amaglug-glug won the opening match 3-1 before drawing the second at Dr Petrus Molemela Stadium on Sunday. The fixtures were arranged as preparation for the qualifiers for the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 2028.

South Africa will meet Madagascar in the second round between 9 and 17 November after Comoros withdrew from their first-round tie against Madagascar.

The winners of that contest will face Cameroon for a place at the All Africa games.

“It has put us in a very good position to go and battle in the next qualifiers against Madagascar and hopefully go through that one and face Cameroon to get into the All Africa games,” Mogudi told the media after Sunday’s match.

Mogudi took charge of the team in the absence of head coach Raymond Mdaka and said the two matches had provided valuable evidence of how the squad was developing.

“But it’s a work in progress; this is sort of a new team because a lot of players are playing together for the first time,” he said.

“In a long time, they have known each other from other national teams. But from the U23 perspective, there is the addition of new players, and they played like they knew each other for a long time.”

The assistant coach said the team’s understanding had improved during the camp, while the matches against Algeria offered the level of preparation South Africa needed.

“We were happy with the chemistry. We were happy with the team-building process. We are happy that we got a very good preparation like Algeria.”

Mogudi was also encouraged by the way South Africa dealt with Algeria’s physical approach, including their threat from aerial situations.

“I think that we can battle with the bigger boys on the physical aggression side; I think we battled with them quite well,” he said.

“We were able to withstand those physical duels. They are a tall side, but I think we managed a lot of high balls that came in and we didn’t come short.”

The strength of the group has left Mdaka with difficult decisions to make when the final squad is selected, according to Mogudi.

“It is a tough headache for coach Raymond because when he has to make final selections, I don’t want to be him.”

He added that many members of the squad were already showing their potential in the PSL and earning international contracts.

“But look, these boys are a high-performing group and you can see by their rise in the PSL, a lot of them are securing international contracts. I think they will do well in the future. We believe in them, and they know that.”