Coach Owen da Gama is hoping for at least two warm-up games for the under-23 national team before their Olympic Games qualifier against Zimbabwe in the coming weeks‚ but his main concern will be the availability of players.
Getting players released from clubs for the two ties — which fall outside Fifa’s co-ordinated international calendar — will rely on the goodwill of Premier Soccer League clubs‚ who will be starting their new season campaigns at the same time as “AmaGluglug” are looking to progress closer to a spot at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Da Gama‚ denied the use of many automatic choices because of club commitments‚ had to field a makeshift selection against Sudan in the All-Africa Games qualifiers and saw his side eliminated.
He had a better response from PSL clubs for the recent friendly against Egypt but must now wait to see what officials can secure in terms of playing strength in the negotiations with clubs.
In the meantime‚ Da Gama says there are also negotiations in the works for friendly matches against Swaziland‚ who ran Zimbabwe close in the previous round.
While South Africa had a bye in the first round of the Olympic qualifiers‚ Zimbabwe squeezed past Swaziland on the away goals rule only after a 2-2 aggregate draw.
“They were obviously competitive against Zimbabwe and so they could prove a good barometer for us to test ourselves‚” said Da Gama‚ who plans to start his preparations on July 5.
Zimbabwe host the first leg of the tie in Harare on July 19 but the venue for the return leg on the first weekend of August must still be decided by the South African Football Association.
The winner of the tie then joins hosts Senegal and six other African countries at the African Under-23 Championships at the end the year.
The PSL plan to halt matches when the tournament is played from November 28 to December 12‚ but only if South Africa qualify.
AmaGluglug’s warm-up campaign clashes with PSL opening
Coach Owen da Gama is hoping for at least two warm-up games for the under-23 national team before their Olympic Games qualifier against Zimbabwe in the coming weeks‚ but his main concern will be the availability of players.
Getting players released from clubs for the two ties — which fall outside Fifa’s co-ordinated international calendar — will rely on the goodwill of Premier Soccer League clubs‚ who will be starting their new season campaigns at the same time as “AmaGluglug” are looking to progress closer to a spot at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Da Gama‚ denied the use of many automatic choices because of club commitments‚ had to field a makeshift selection against Sudan in the All-Africa Games qualifiers and saw his side eliminated.
He had a better response from PSL clubs for the recent friendly against Egypt but must now wait to see what officials can secure in terms of playing strength in the negotiations with clubs.
In the meantime‚ Da Gama says there are also negotiations in the works for friendly matches against Swaziland‚ who ran Zimbabwe close in the previous round.
While South Africa had a bye in the first round of the Olympic qualifiers‚ Zimbabwe squeezed past Swaziland on the away goals rule only after a 2-2 aggregate draw.
“They were obviously competitive against Zimbabwe and so they could prove a good barometer for us to test ourselves‚” said Da Gama‚ who plans to start his preparations on July 5.
Zimbabwe host the first leg of the tie in Harare on July 19 but the venue for the return leg on the first weekend of August must still be decided by the South African Football Association.
The winner of the tie then joins hosts Senegal and six other African countries at the African Under-23 Championships at the end the year.
The PSL plan to halt matches when the tournament is played from November 28 to December 12‚ but only if South Africa qualify.
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