SA U23 coach Mdaka wary of ‘closed book’ Madagascar
· Citizen
South African U23 men’s national team coach Raymond Mdaka has described Madagascar as a “closed book” ahead of their back-to-back Olympic Games qualifiers at the Lucas Moripe Stadium on Saturday and Tuesday.
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Speaking to SAFA media, Mdaka said even the senior Bafana Bafana analysts couldn’t dig up any information about their opponents.
“Madagascar is a very closed book. We tried with everyone (to get information), including our senior team analyst, because Madagascar was not there in 2024 when we were playing COSAFA in Mozambique, and this is their age group. We checked everywhere we could think of, but they remain a closed book. Other than that, we always have a way as the technical team and coaches to at least find something; there will always be a way out,” said Mdaka.
“We hope to do as much as we can to make sure that we qualify for the Olympics, and we have shared with the boys that this could also be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity they might not get again, and at least (being there) is a good representation of who you are as a player, so this is a motivation to the whole team,” he added.
Mdaka on selection challenge
Mdaka has kept the bulk of the team that faced Algeria in two friendly matches in Bloemfontein early last month.
“With the kind of talent that we have, we will always have a challenge; it will always be difficult to come up with your 23 players, but we have a pool. I think that the preliminary group that we always put up is helping us to juggle around, and we always try to find players that are playing regularly, players that have got minutes. Others got injured, but at the same time that pool is helping us juggle around,” explained Mdaka.
“We are also looking at competence, to say how good they are, and how much they are doing in their own teams. Some of them might not be getting minutes that you want to justify, but at the same time it’s better sometimes to stay with what you know than something that you don’t know.”
The winner of this tie will book a place in the third round of the qualifiers, which will be played in March next year.