South Africa Under-23 coach David Notoane is confident that his team will be able to get a win in the return leg away of the Caf Olympic qualifiers against Congo-Brazzaville.
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This comes after Notoane’s team was held to a 1-1 draw by the Congolese at the Dobsonville Stadium on Thursday.
The South Africans, who seemed to be better in terms of play than their visitors, had to fight their way back into the game after letting the Congolese break the deadlock prior to half-time.
Notoane had to make some changes in the second half and one of those was Mduduzi Shabalala, who came in and saved the day for the hosts with his fine cross finding Thapelo Maseko inside the Congo box and the winger found the equaliser.
“It was a difficult game against a very aggressive and physical team. But once we started to put the ball down and found the pockets, we were giving them problems. But we lacked a bit of experience, maturity and technical finesse to find the right final pass, and right movements to penetrate them,” said Notoane after the match.
“But they are young guys, I am happy that we didn’t lose which is very important to have gotten a 1-1 draw. But I think we are capable of going away and getting a result.”
Notoane also touched on the way the team conceded the goal and he seems to think his defenders could have easily handled the danger, but lapse of concentration in a very crucial moment caused them to let Congo score.
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“I am very disappointed with the way we conceded because it’s a lapse in concentration. We have two big boys, and the striker was in between them and we didn’t even stop the cross from coming in, which is something we knew.”
The SA Under-23s will play Congo-Brazzaville away in the second leg at Massamba-debat Stadium on Monday.
