The South African Under-23 squad have two shots at qualifying for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Having secured a place in the semi-finals of the Caf U23 Africa Cup of Nations in Senegal, the Olympic dream is edging ever closer.
In Wednesday’s second semi-final, Group A runners-up SA face Group B winners Algeria at the Stade Léopold Sédar Senghor in Dakar (kickoff 8.30pm SA time).
In the first semi-final, Group A winners Senegal take on Group B runners-up Nigeria at the same venue (kickoff 5pm SA time).
This eight-nation tournament is the final African qualifying programme for a place at the Olympic Games in Rio, Brazil next year. The top three countries are assured of a place at the global sporting spectacular, an event which every sportsman and woman dreams of participating in.
If the SA U23s defeat Algeria on Wednesday, they are not only through to the final of the tournament, but it also guarantees them a spot in the top three and qualification for the Olympics.
If however they lose to Algeria, they will still have one more shot at a place in Rio – and that’s via the third-place playoff match on Saturday.
SA U23 head coach Owen da Gama is, however, not getting too far ahead of himself. Complacency and arrogance have been the downfall of many a sporting team in SA.
“The dream lives on,” said Da Gama. “When we left home, the mission was to qualify for the Rio Olympics, and we are still on track.
“We’ve said that it’s one game at a time, and that approach has worked for us. Now we are just one match away from achieving our dream.
“It would make life so much easier if we were to qualify for the final outright and eliminate the pressure of a third-place playoff. Victory over Algeria on Wednesday would be like killing two birds with one stone – qualifying for the Olympics and playing in the final.”
The team qualified for the semi-finals after a challenging 1-0 win over Tunisia in their final Group A fixture. And now they face another tricky north African side when they come up against Algeria.
“We are excited about qualifying for the semi-finals, but it was a tough match against Tunisia,” said Da Gama. “Credit to the players, I thought they were exceptional on the night. We defended very well and that is down to the spirit in the camp and what this team wants to achieve.
“In Algeria, though, we’ll have to deal with another tactical North African approach. They are very technical, solid in defence, organised and always have very quick fullbacks and wingers.
“But remember, while they may be from the same school of thought in terms of approach, also bear in mind they have different players. The stage of the competition is also very sensitive because a win here takes you straight to the final of the tournament and to Rio. Algeria present a different challenge, so we have to approach them differently. It is going to be a tough one, no doubt about it…
“As for us, we will have almost the same type of approach. We will get good feedback from our technical team who went to watch the Algeria v Nigeria match. We’ll sit down, analyse, and find an approach to deal with them.
“Once again, it is always going to be 70 percent of what we do and the other 30 percent of what they are about – otherwise you lose focus on your own strengths if you worry too much on the opposition.”
Da Gama remained optimistic that his team still had it within themselves to produce their best – and was confident the U23s could pull it off.
“It has been a fantastic run so far and it is important that we get better and better as the competition progresses,” he said. “We have to peak at the right time... hopefully, we can get it right and win this one.”
@Reinerss11