South Africa’s Under-23 side will face Algeria in their second international friendly in Bloemfontein on Sunday, as preparations continue for the Olympic qualifying campaign.
The first meeting ended in a 3-1 victory for South Africa on Thursday, but the technical team says the match also exposed areas that still need attention.
The first Algeria friendly gave the South African technical team an early look at how the players are responding to international football.
With the squad made up of players from different clubs, building an understanding at the back has been one of the areas identified for improvement.
SAU-23 Assistant coach, Karabo Mogodu, says, “It’s international football. A mistake can win games, and what we need to do is obviously ensure that we (take) these chances. And I think a couple of things at the back, like, you know, just chemistry between the guys, you know, them getting used to each other, being able to communicate properly. I think because this is one of the first camps that we have with a friendly game, it exposed a couple of things that at the back, we will just need to train and basically improve.”
The Algeria fixtures are also giving the players time to build combinations, something that is difficult to achieve when they spend most of the season with their respective clubs.
SA U-23 player, Dhakier Lee, says the time together has already started to make a difference.
“Obviously, (we) know that we’re all from different teams, and in order to click, we need to be together for a period of time. And I think these friendlies help us do so. And, of course, getting the 3-1 victory in the first game is a huge boost for us. So, yeah,” says player Dhakier Lee.
The second meeting with Algeria gives the team another opportunity to work on those combinations, while the technical team continues to assess the players available to them. With the Olympic qualifiers still ahead, the emphasis is on building understanding and eliminating mistakes before the competitive matches begin.
