26 March 2021– South Africa Under-23 National team coach David Notoane was full of praise for his side after a 3-1 victory over Golden Arrows in a friendly match at Princess Magogo Stadium on Thursday, 25 March 2021.
Notoane’s team of 24 locally-based players is currently undergoing a training camp in eThekwini which runs from 21-29 March 2021.
The camp is part of the preparations for the delayed Tokyo Olympics now scheduled to take place in Tokyo, Japan from 23 July-8 August 2021.
Speaking after the victory over Arrows, Notoane expressed his delight with how the match against Mandla Ncikazi’s charges covered different aspects of the game.
“We are very happy with the game and how competitive it was. It had all the elements required in a football match; physically, mentally, tactically and high tempo,” said Notoane.
“We worked on how to deal with the build-ups of opponents, trying to high press them and steal balls and two goals resulted from that situation”.
The u23 coach said the match had given him a number of eye sights.
“The game further gave us an opportunity to assess the players from a conditioning point, from those that play regularly and those that don’t play regularly”.
“It was a game of two halves despite the victory, but it was a good start in terms of our preparations,” Notoane concluded.
The goals for South Africa Under-23 were scored by Ashley Du Preez, Keletso Makgalwa who converted from the spot and Thabiso Monyane. Nkosinathi Sibisi scored the only goal for Golden Arrows.
The u23s will face Maritzburg United at Harry Gwala stadium on Saturday, 27 March 2021. (Kick-off 15h00).
Speaking ahead of that particular encounter David Notoane stated that the aim is to strive for a suitable formation for the current crop of players that the team has.
“Going into the game against Maritzburg United we will be trying to find the right formation that will be suitable to the talent at our disposal and also analyze what different players can offer.”
For further information please contact:
SAFA: Head of Communications
Dominic Chimhavi
Email: dominic.chimhavi@safa.net
Mobile: +27 71 332 9886