Pretoria News

SA Under-23 crumble at the might of Pharaohs

HERMAN GIBBS herman.gibbs@gmail.com

THE lack of match fitness proved a nightmare scenario for the depleted South Africa Under-23 team that suffered a 2-0 defeat to hosts Egypt Under 23 in Cairo on Thursday night.

The South Africa Under-23 coach David Notoane said the team looked fine in the opening 20 minutes, but afterwards, Egypt’s superior fitness and speed to the ball became increasingly evident.

The matter of not playing regularly was always going to pose a problem ahead of the two-match tour, but the team was rocked further by a spate of withdrawals due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Galatasaray striker Mostafa Mohamed scored a goal in each half for the Pharaohs.

Notoane said the next game tomorrow will help the players raise their fitness levels and allow the players to strike greater cohesion.

"It was difficult as we expected from Egypt, who have a fairly settled combination," said Notoane.

"We looked OK in the opening 20 minutes but then the conditions became challenging. We started to feel the lack of cohesion, and during this time Egypt were faster, and quicker to the ball.

"We did create chances but did not capitalise. They controlled the game from the midfield where they employed two players in a central position.

“We now have a few things to work on so that we can produce an improved performance on Sunday. We need to tighten our defence.

"All in all, there is a lot we take out of the game. Our overseas-based players brought a lot of quality to the team. We will need to ensure that we can bring the best out of them."

The current Egypt squad includes several players who played in the team that lifted the Under 23 AFCON title in 2019. Hence, South Africa are fortunate to warm up for the Olympics against a team of this calibre.

South Africa, who will be playing in their third Olympics, will enjoy the pride of place in the Olympics football opener. They play against hosts Japan on July 22.

The other two teams in the group are France and Mexico. The top two teams in each group advance to the quarter-finals.

SPORT

en-za

2021-06-12T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-06-12T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://pretorianews.pressreader.com/article/281724092494132

African News Agency