Da Gama under no lofty illusions ahead of crunch clash against Senegal

They have been dubbed the most gifted upcoming generation since the class of Sydney 2000 but the time has now come for South Africa’s under-23s to show their wares at the eight-nation championships in Senegal.

Starts don’t get tougher than the opening encounter against hosts Senegal at the Léopold Senghor Stadium on Saturday (5pm kick-off). But if they want to make the top three that will qualify for the next year’s Rio Olympics‚ there’s no better way to put a stake on the ground than beating the hosts first up.

The boy band’s front man Keagan Dolly‚ has been touted as the next Steven Pienaar — but quicker — and Gavin Hunt believes 18-year-old Bidvest Wits striker Phakamani Mahlambi can be better than Benni McCarthy.

story_article_left1

But before they can inherit comparisons to Mzansi’s greatest‚ they must get past the West Africans in the first Group A game.

Coach Owen da Gama is under no lofty illusions ahead of the crunch clash.

“We understand it’s going to be very‚ very tough [but] I think you would rather get them early than late‚” Da Gama said.

“They obviously will get stronger as the competition goes and with the support behind them.

“They don’t know much about us. We’ve got their last three games on video‚ including their last qualifying match where they beat Congo 3-0 — we’ve really studied them. So we understand what they’re about.

“They play a 4-3-3 formation. They’ve got two very tall central defenders‚ their right wing is explosive and they’ve got a fantastic striker in [Cheikhou] Dieng. This guy scores amazing goals and he just gets the crowd going.

“For us it’s to have a good idea about them‚ but not to over- analyse things because we’ve got to bring what we have got to the party. It’s got to be 70 percent what we are about.”

Indeed‚ Norway-based Dieng’s name will be one of those blaring from the stadium chants in Dakar‚ along with FC Mentz’s Mouhamadou Diallo.

South Africa should be unperturbed‚ though‚ because they have a healthy spread of talent in their 21-man squad. Bafana Bafana-capped defenders Kwanda Mngonyama and Rivaldo Coetzee would make Matthew Booth proud.

Abbubaker Mobara and Gift Motupa are midfield anchors that are fast gaining shining reputations‚ while the creative talents of Dolly‚ Menzi Masuku‚ Riyaad Norodien and Mahlambi will give Senegal migraines.

story_article_right2

“I think if you go player for player‚ which is sometimes unfair because every player has qualities another doesn’t have‚ I do agree it’s amongst the best [Under-23 squads] we’ve ever had‚” admitted Da Gama‚ who is also a Bafana assistant coach.

“This is the last feeder team to Bafana. And for this age group of players this is also the last opportunity to get international experience so that when they are selected for Bafana they’ve got a bit of international background.

“When it’s not a culture shock when they have to go into Africa it just augurs well for Bafana.

“And another thing about these boys is that they are streetwise. They come from difficult backgrounds so they understand these things and these conditions.”

Amaglug-glug will go on to face Zambia on Tuesday in the second pool stage game on December 1 before taking on Tunisia three days later.

 – TMG Digital