South Africa U-23 head coach David Notoane admits it’s a challenge to gauge the quality of players abroad with limited time but confirmed they are in the process of securing more diaspora talent for the national team.
After the arrival of Mamelodi-born midfielder, Kgaogelo Chauke on Tuesday morning, the Southampton midfielder joined Johannesburg-born Christos Retsos as the foreign-based talent in the squad.
AFC Fylde striker Siyabonga Lingendza was also named in the preliminary squad but missed out due to injury – but it’s been a promising few steps from the U-17 level to the senior squad to see South Africa handing players outside of the country chances.
African giants Morocco, Algeria, and Senegal are among the national teams who has profited from the players across the globe eligible to switch their international allegiance and while there are some prospects out there, the limited resources and time Notoane has with the players provides a major challenge to see whether they offer him more than the local-based talent at his disposal.
“As you saying, it’s exactly like that [difficult] to gauge their quality against players in South Africa, we get footage, mostly short clips, now and then football footage but not of the standard you’d want,” Notoane tells iDiski Times.
“Yes [it’s flattering] clips, and one is cautious of that but we’ve been engaging with them about their progress, [Retsos and Chauke] over the last few months.
“There’s also Siya Lingedza who is doing well at his club but he’s in the National League in England and we also Simon van Duivenbooden who’s also struggling to finalise his documentation and paperwork, he plays for Vitesse Arnhem.
“We’re also happy to have Bradley Cross back home with Martizbirg and showing he’s gained a lot of experience overseas but yeah, as you said it’s difficult not having access to these players on a regular basis.
“But because we follow their progress, their talents come here and we hope they bring the experience we hope they will give this particular group.”
South Africa U23 take on Congo in their first-leg tie at Donbsonville Stadium on Thursday afternoon (15h00).
