South Africa Under-20 and Under-23 coach Raymond Mdaka has no interest in seeking recognition, despite guiding Amajita to a second consecutive Cosafa Under-20 title and the 2025 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations trophy.
Mdaka’s latest success came on Sunday, when South Africa defeated hosts Mozambique in the final in Maputo. Amajita will now travel to Ghana next year to defend their Africa Cup of Nations title, with Mdaka aiming to win the competition twice in succession.
The 56-year-old has also led South Africa at the 2025 Fifa U-20 World Cup in Chile, where they were beaten by Colombia in the last 16. He is widely regarded as one of the country’s leading young coaches and youth-team specialists.
Despite calls for him to receive greater recognition, Mdaka says remaining focused on his work is more important than personal praise.
“If I am looking for people to be praising and saying things about me, I may lose focus,” he said as the Under-23 team prepared to meet Algeria in two friendlies in Bloemfontein on Thursday and Sunday.
The matches are part of preparations for a 2027 U-23 Afcon qualifier in November.
“Sometimes you need to do what you can do best wherever you are in that particular moment. Life will always change, things will always come around, but if you are looking far ahead instead of doing good in what you have to for now, you might miss direction.”
Mdaka returned from Mozambique with the Under-20 squad on Monday and immediately joined the Under-23 camp. He said managing both teams had been planned, even though it created a demanding schedule.
“It is a challenge [to be coaching two different teams] but it is something we knew about. It was in our programme that we will go to Cosafa U-20 and immediately come back and go to U-23,” he said.
“It’s only me and coach Karabo [Mogodi, Mdaka’s assistant] and the analyst who were in Mozambique with the U-20s. You go there and work for almost 14 days and then come back to work with another team.”
The Under-23 squad includes several players who impressed during the 2025 U-20 Afcon triumph and at the Under-20 World Cup, including Fletcher Smythe-Lowe, Asekho Tiwani, Neo Rapoo, Camren Dansin, Mfundo Vilakazi, Kutlwano Letlhaku, Emile Witbooi, Mpho Padime and Luke Baartman.
Mdaka described selecting from such a talented group as both an opportunity and a significant challenge.
“You have to do what we call squad composition and balance it,” he said. “You will find that in one area, you have more than four players and you cannot take all of them on the basis that you want to balance the team.”
The coach said detailed player profiling would help determine the best combinations for his preferred style, while the current camp would provide valuable playing time and allow the squad to build an understanding before the Olympic qualifiers.
“Without preparation there is nothing that can happen,” Mdaka said. “We can have the best players, but if we cannot be given the support it won’t work.”
