South Africa U23 head coach Raymond Mdaka has admitted that preparing for Madagascar has been difficult because his technical team have very little information about their opponents ahead of their Olympic Games qualifiers.

The two nations are set to meet at Lucas Masterpieces Moripe Stadium, where South Africa will be hoping to use home advantage to secure a positive result and move closer to achieving their qualification ambitions.

Mdaka explained that Madagascar remain an unknown opponent despite the efforts made by his technical team to gather information. The coach revealed that even the analysts from the senior Bafana Bafana team have struggled to find useful details about the team they will be facing.

He said the challenge was partly because Madagascar were not part of the COSAFA tournament held in Mozambique in 2024 at this age-group level.

"Honestly, Madagascar is a very closed book. We have tried with whoever, including our senior team analysts, because they were not there in 2024 with COSAFA in Mozambique, this is the age group," Mdaka explained.

The coach admitted that finding information about their opponents has not been easy, but insisted that his technical team would find a way to prepare the players for the important encounter.

"We checked everywhere where we could find something, it remains a closed book, but other than that, we always have a way – as the technical team and coaches, to find something. It's challenging, but we always have a way out," he added.

Meanwhile, Mdaka also discussed the difficulties involved in selecting his final squad for the qualifiers. The coach has had to make several decisions as he looks to settle on the right group of players to represent the country.

Shandre Campbell, Thato Sibiya and Thabang Mahlangu are among the familiar faces who have returned to the squad. However, Gabi Amato and Siviwe Magidigidi are among the players who have missed out on selection.

Mdaka explained that having a larger preliminary squad has helped the technical team consider different options before settling on the final 23 players.

He said regular playing time, fitness, injuries and the overall ability of players were among the factors considered during the selection process.

The coach also stressed the importance of choosing players whose qualities and abilities are already familiar to the technical team, especially when preparing for an important international assignment.

With a place in the next stage of the Olympic qualification campaign at stake, South Africa will need to overcome the challenge posed by Madagascar despite having limited information about their opponents.

Mdaka will now be hoping that his preparations pay off when the two sides meet at Lucas Masterpieces Moripe Stadium.

Source: IDiskiTimes