Why Under-23 coach Notoane will announce Bafana squad and not Baxter

20 May 2019 - 12:59 By Nick Said
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SA Under-23 head coach David Notoane is on a mission to qualify the team for both the 2019 Under-23 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
SA Under-23 head coach David Notoane is on a mission to qualify the team for both the 2019 Under-23 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Image: Sydney Seshibedi

National Under-23 coach David Notoane is to lead the South African side at the Cosafa Cup in Durban‚ an indication that the squad will be mostly made up of players seeking to win a place at the 2019 African Under-23 Championships later in the year.

Notoane will announce his squad on Tuesday‚ and will use the opportunity to prepare for their qualifier against Zimbabwe that will be played in early September.

Victory in that tie will see them advance to the continental finals‚ where they will aim to gain a place at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo with a top-three finish.

South Africa took an Under-23 side to the 2016 Cosafa Cup in Namibia and ended up winning the trophy with the bulk of the squad that would play at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro a few months later.

It included the likes of newly-crowned Premier Soccer League (PSL) Footballer of the Year Thembinkosi Lorch‚ Rivaldo Coetzee‚ Lebogang Phiri‚ Gift Motupa and Aubrey Modiba.

South Africa will take on Botswana in the quarterfinals of the Cosafa Cup at the Princess Magogo Stadium on June 2‚ the fifth year in a row they will clash with The Zebras.

They beat Botswana in that final in Windhoek in 2016‚ but were ousted on penalties at the quarterfinal stage the year earlier.

The last two tournaments have seen them complete 2-0 and 3-0 victories respectively.

Bafana Bafana head coach Stuart Baxter will shortly announce his Africa Cup of Nations squad and will lead those players in preparations for the finals in Egypt that start on June 21.

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