With David Notoane having stepped down as SA Under-23 coach, here are four possible coaches to replace him.

Former SA Under-23 coach, David Notoane. 

South Africa's failure to qualify for the AFCON U23 tournament which also serves as an Olympics qualifier, is a total disaster.

Talented youngsters have missed out on an opportunity for further development through competitive international football, which would have been a possible pathway to Bafana Bafana, and overseas moves.

What hurts the most about their failure to qualify is that it was not through a fault of their own. Lack of adequate preparation for such a crucial encounter was the main factor.

And all fingers point to the mother body, SAFA.

Notoane revealed on MSW that he was working without a contract, which is a red flag for such a special project as the U23 team.

On top of that, he did not receive the necessary support, in terms of enough games to prepare the team.

Maybe it is time for SAFA to take youth national teams seriously, beginning with the appointments of full-time coaches instead of freelancers!

Also Read: https://safootballtxt.blogspot.com/2023/03/now-that-bafana-have-qualified-for.html?m=1

Four possible names for the job:

Thabo Senong

Senong has worked within the SAFA structures before, with youth and the senior national team.

He went on to gain more international experience as Botswana senior men's national team.

Once tipped as a future Bafana coach, Senong has a wealth of experience working with youth players, from his time with Diambars Academy.

He possesses all the coaching tools and experience needed to lead our U23s to the 2028 Olympic games.

Shaun Bartlett.

The former Bafana Bafana forward has shown a great ability to get the best out of youth players.

His work and experience with amaTuks and Cape Town Spurs has proven beyond any reasonable doubt his strengths as a coach.

If SAFA decides to stop cutting corners and appoint full-time youth coaches, there is no way Bartlett's name can be overlooked.

Farouk Khan

Khan is an encyclopedia of SA football, period.

His work from his Kaizer Chiefs days to Stars Of Africa is well-documented.

In a South Africa that is serious about its football, Khan would be part of the national youth structures.

His appointment would be a no brainer.

Mandla Ncikazi

From Lamontville Golden Arrows to Orlando Pirates, Ncikazi has shown he has what it takes to get the best out of local players.

He understands local football, and has adequate international experience with Pirates in the Caf Confederations Cup.

Given an opportunity and Support, Ncikazi can whip the U23 team into shape.

David Notoane talks about soul searching after SA Under-23 AFCON exit.

SA Under-23. Image credit: iDiski Times Twitter

It is now history that the South African Under-23 side will not be part of the AFCON U23 tournament to be hosted by Morocco.

Meaning no chance at fighting for Olympics participation for this talented group of players.

In his media statement, U23 coach David Notoane, talked about a lot of soul searching to be done regarding his team's direction.

In this case, maybe it is SAFA, the custodian of our football who must do some introspection concerning the way they treat the junior national teams.

For example, while Bafana Bafana play friendly matches every other international break, not enough has been done for an equally important team like the U23s.

Against Congo in the first leg match played at Dobsonville Stadium last Thursday, South Africa's performance was embarrassingly disjointed.

A sign of a team hastily put together to fulfill the fixture without adequate preparation or friendly matches to build synergy amongst the players.

It is such a shame that such a talented group of players were not given enough support to prepare them for an equal qualifier like the one against Congo.

With more games together under their belt, Notoane's team were not going to have any problems with the disposing of the Congolese.

But this is South Africa, where adequate planning and preparation is a foreign language.

Notoane's thoughts on the game, and his disappointment:

"A Very, very difficult result and outcome, which we didn’t deserve but it’s football," Notoane told SAFA’s media team as quoted by iDiski Times. https://www.idiskitimes.co.za/african-football/notoane-emotional-after-failing-to-qualify-for-u23-afcon/

"[I’m] very very disappointed on a personal level because I think the game was within our grasp to get a result. We had planned to make sure that defensively we are tight, which we didn’t concede was very good.

"But then we missed some very very good chances, Radiopane had two one-vs-ones, then at the end Mduduzi Shabalala had a breakthrough on transition play on the platter to finish unfortunately again it’s all down to decision-making.

Also Read: https://safootballtxt.wordpress.com/2023/03/28/top-south-african-youngsters-to-miss-out-on-further-development-and-possible-european-moves/

"[I’m] very, very disappointed but I think again the boys put up a very galant fight under very difficult conditions and we’re going out on an away-goal rule unfortunately and it’s football. It wasn’t our time. 

"But it’s emotionally very much draining, if one looks at the circumstances overall in terms of our campaign and it leaves one with a lot more questions and a lot more soul searching about the process that we on in regard to this team."

Top South African youngsters to miss out on further development and possible European moves.

Image: iDiski Times Twitter

With the national Under-23 team having failed to qualify for AFCON U23 Championships to be held in Morocco, which means no Olyimpic games for them, an opportunity to be scouted by top European clubs is gone.

It is not only the U23s that have missed out, earlier this month, AFCON Under-20 Championships were held in Egypt, and once again South Africa was missing in action.

The continuous absence of our junior national teams in international tournaments is negatively affecting not only the further development of our top youngsters, who miss out on possible European moves, but it affects our senior national team as well, who are denied a steady supply of well developed youngsters to carry them forward.

There is no doubt about the talent South Africa has in terms of young players coming through the ranks.

But the likes of Mduduzi Shabalala, Mfundo Vilakazi, Ntando Nkosi, Relebohile Ratomo, Siyabonga Mabhena to name only a few, will need to compete against the best of their peers if they are to reach the heights of international football, but that won't be possible with the continued failure of our youth national teams to qualify for major tournaments like the Under-20 World Cup and the Olympic games.

Also Read: https://safootballtxt.blogspot.com/2023/03/south-africa-as-football-nation-dying.html?m=1

Luckily, the national Under-17 side managed to qualify for the AFCON Under-17 Championships after making it through the COSAFA region.

Their coach, Duncan Crowie, and the boys must be commended for making it through, hopefully, they will qualify for the next U17 World Championships.

The fact of the matter is, if our youth national teams don't participate against the best of their peers on the world stage, we can kiss the hopes of having a strong Bafana Bafana side in the near future goodbye.

Senegal, Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, and Morocco will continue to be miles ahead of South Africa because they take their youth national teams seriously, hence their continued participation in youth World Cups and an influx of their top youngsters to European leagues.

As for South Africa, the COSAFA Cup is the only tournament we will be guaranteed to take part in, not that we will win it either, as we are quickly falling behind the likes of Zambia and Angola in the region.

Does Notoane really believe his Under-23 side can win in Congo? Like really?

David Notoane is a man of strong faith, for it takes really strong and unwavering faith to believe that the SA Under-23 side can go to Congo Brazzaville and come back victorious. 

The thing about faith is, it sometimes entails believing in things that have no proof of existence, and when it comes to the national U23 side, there was no proof in their performance on Thursday that they can go to Congo and get a positive result. 

Congo played with a lot of tactical maturity, and used their physical superiority to their advantage to nullify the threat of the technically gifted South African team. 

They did that without breaking much of a sweat, one can only imagine how they will be even a better side in their own backyard, with the away goal at their advantage and a desperate SA U23 team that is bound to make a lot of mistakes in their for a miraculous victory. 

But Notoane has faith in his team, and he believes they can go to Congo and come back unscathed, despite the obvious deficiencies in his side's performance. 

"We lacked a little bit of the experience, maturity and the technical finesse to find the right pass, and the right movements to penetrate them. But they are young guys, I am happy that we didn't lose, which is very important that we got a 1-1 draw, but I think we are capable of doing away and get a result," Notoane said after the game. 

He was disappointment with the way his team defended. 

"The way we conceded, I'm very disappointed because it's a lapse of concentration moment, we've got two big boys, and the striker is in between them. We didn't stop the cross from coming in, which is something that we knew, that they will be playing out [on Msane's side].

On Samkelo Zwane and Kgaogelo Chauke's performances: 

"In terms of the intensity of the game, the physicality of the game, the tempo, some players were struggling a little bit. 

"Zwane [Samkelo], Kgaogelo [Chauke] coming in, didn't show the energy that we would have wanted on the ball, and show his quality, but again we just thought let us give him a chance, and see how he copes with the physicality of these guys [Congo]."

On what they need to improve on before Monday: 

"But the skills are there, the football intelligence is there, but we are going to require more than the technical ability, but more aggression, the strength, and the fight, more especially the fight."

The fact of the matter is Monday comes to soon for the improvements required for Notoane's boys to win in Congo. 

But miracles do happen in football, with Notoane's faith, maybe, just maybe, the unthinkable may happen. 

Image credit: Prince Sobayeni Sports Twitter. 

SA Under-23 Olympics hopes hang in the balance as they draw 1-1 with Congo.

South Africa Under-23 were held to a one all draw by Congo Brazzaville on Tuesday afternoon at Dobsonville Stadium.

David Notoane's boys struggled to put together cohesive performance against a Congolese side that used their physical presence to their advantage.

Despite fielding a team full of individual brilliance, lack of team chemistry was evident in the South African side, which can be attributed to the boys not having enough preparation time to build some form of synergy.

In the first half, Notoane's boys barely put three passes together, with Congo exacting their physical capabilities in one vs one duels to pressure South African players into losing possession.

As a team, the Congolese remained compact in their defending third, not allowing the South Africans any space to maneuver. In possession, they looked to get forward as quick as possible to take advantage of the space left behind by the likes of Siyanda Msani and Keagan Johannes in the outside channels.

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Their ploy paid just before half time when Rhaemma Bissila gave them the lead with a close range header.

In the second half, South Africa played with more urgency, looking for the equalizer, but there was still not much improvement in the quality of their play.

It took the introduction of Mduduzi Shabalala after the 60th minute to change the complexion of the game for Notoane's side.

Shabalala delivered a pin point cross from the right outside channel that was guided home by SuperSport United winger, Thapelo Maseko.

Incidentally, Maseko was the most threatening South African player, and finding the equalizer capped a good performance from the skillful youngster.

After the equalizer, it was back to square one for SA as Congo increased the intensity in their play, both on and off the ball, which seemed to unsettle SA even more.

With the game ending at 1-1, South Africa will have to beat Congo at
Stade Alphonse Massemba-Débat in Brazzaville on Monday if they are to qualify for the Afcon U23 tournament to be held in Morocco.

If they play a draw, it will have to be 2-all or more for them to qualify on away goals.

Image: SAFA.net