South Africa Under-23 assistant coach Karabo Mogudi believes the team’s two-match series against Algeria has left them well prepared for their 2028 Olympic Games qualifying campaign.
Amaglug-glug beat Algeria 3-1 in the opening friendly before drawing the second match 1-1 at Dr Petrus Molemela Stadium on Sunday.
The fixtures formed part of South Africa’s preparations for the qualifiers for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games. They will face Madagascar in the second round between 9 and 17 November after Comoros withdrew from their first-round tie against Madagascar.
The winner of the tie with Madagascar will then 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 side in the absence of head coach Raymond Mdaka. He said the two matches had been particularly valuable because the squad included several players who were working together for the first time at Under-23 level.
“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 U-23 perspective, there is the addition of new players, and they played like they knew each other for a long time.
“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.”
Physical test provides encouragement
Mogudi said South Africa had also shown they could compete with Algeria’s physical style, particularly in the aerial challenges.
“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 assistant coach also believes the squad’s strength in depth will give Mdaka difficult decisions to make when he names his final group.
“It is a tough headache for coach Raymond because when he has to make final selections, I don’t want to be him,” Mogudi said.
He added that the players had already shown their quality through their progress in the PSL and their ability to secure 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.”
