Notoane says lessons learned by his squad at Cosafa Cup have been invaluable

South Africa coach David Notoane is pleased with the resilience shown by his young side as they look ahead to a Cosafa Cup Plate final against Malawi on Friday.

After fielding a completely Under-23 side in their Plate semifinal penalty shoot-out win an experienced‚ home-based Uganda squad on Tuesday‚ Notoane says the lessons learned by his squad at the tournament‚ more than the results‚ have been invaluable.

The team drew 2-2 with Botswana in their Cup quarterfinal at the weekend‚ before losing on penalties‚ but this time came out on top in the shoot-out having come from behind in a 1-1 draw with the Ugandans.

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Luther Singh‚ who has been the star performer in both matches‚ scored an equaliser with 20 minutes to play after the team had looked on the verge of an exit.

“The biggest thing for me to take out of this game is the reaction of the boys psychologically.

"Especially in the second half‚ considering we were on the verge of going home‚” Notoane said.

“It was an exciting game for the supporters‚ but there are a lot of lessons from a tactical point of view that we will take from the game.

"We are happy to have another game [on Friday] and we now go back and correct and improve on our performance.”

Notoane is using the Cosafa Cup to fine-tune his squad ahead of an African Under-23 Championship qualifier against Zimbabwe in September‚ as well as give those on the fringes of Bafana Bafana selection for the Africa Cup of Nations a final chance to shine.

“We came here wanting to give game-time to players and see in terms of our preparation for Afcon and the Olympics.

“The [six] changes that were made to the team for Uganda were more about freshening the side up after we had played 48 hours ago‚ but also to give the players a chance to raise their hands.”

South Africa have looked potent going forward in the competition and should have scored more in both games their played‚ but Notoane has also been eager to test out his defensive line‚ that has been less secure.

“This type of tournament gives us a good measure of the players we have at the back.

"They played against a very experienced Ugandan forward [Dan Sserenkuma] and I said to [Sandile] Mthethwa‚ ‘be careful because he is playing off your shoulder’.

“And if you see how the first goal came‚ he lost him and a good pass came through …

“We are a team that likes to have the ball and play on the front foot‚ but defensively it is good to see how the boys perform at this level and how quickly they learn the lessons that we take out of the games.”

It has been a major step up in quality for some of the South African players and that is exactly the test Notoane was hoping for.

“They are developing‚ the level some of them playing in the NFD‚ if you compare it to the quality of the opposition we are facing here … it will give us a true measure.

"The main target is of course the Olympic‚ so I am happy that we came to this tournament.

“I would rather make the mistakes and learn from them than have games of lesser competition where the players are shining and‚ then you get to the big stage and the boys are exposed.”