SA prepares for Zim Olympic qualifiers game

SOUTH Africa Under-23 coach Owen Da Gama reckons his team needs to be tested more.

Da Gama was speaking in reference to Young Bafana's preparation for the upcoming first leg of an Olympic qualifier against Zimbabwe at the Rufaro Stadium in Harare next month.

Daily Sun reported that Young Bafana are vying for one of the three available spots for the Olympic Games from 3-20 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The former Bloemfontein Celtic coach wants two more friendlies before heading to neighbouring Zimbabwe.

Da Gama's side beat Egypt 2-1 earlier this month as part of their preparations but the coach was not happy that one of the matches against Egypt had to be cancelled.

Said Da Gama: "The match was good practice but the cancellation of the other game was a disappointment. I would have loved to assess everyone equally. We learned a lot but the players need to be tested more.

"We have put a programme to the technical committee and we are keeping our fingers crossed it will get the nod. If we could play two more friendlies, I think we would be better prepared for Zimbabwe."

He said the squad was set to assemble for camp in the first week of July and would be ready for a friendly on 5 July, possibly against one of the Cosafa teams.

"We are looking to play either Zambia, Malawi or Botswana in the first match – any team that plays similarly to Zimbabwe. Then for the second match we are looking to play one of the powerhouses, either Nigeria, Ivory Coast or Ghana," he said.

The Bafana Bafana assistant coach said the good physical condition of the players going into the previous camp meant it was one less thing for the coaching staff to worry about when the team heads into camp next week.

He added, however, that they needed to focus more on converting goal-scoring opportunities.

He added: "Preparation is key. We need to guide the boys on the footwear to use. In the All Africa Games qualifier in Sudan, the boys had blisters, also in part due to the artificial turf we were playing on.

"We need to work on conversion of opportunities, we need to get a better percentage.

"We must also work on the understanding between the various departments – getting the players to understand each other better so they can complement each other."