SA U23 coach David Notoane says he wouldn’t hesitate if hot striker Cassius Mailula was available to overturn the deficit against Congo Brazzaville but it was agreed that he’s part of the senior team.
The Young Bafana is on the threshold of bowing out as they drew 1-1 with Congo in the first leg of the second round CAF U23 qualifier at Dobsonville Stadium on Thursday.
They now head to Congo for the return leg on Monday, where they will have to come out of the blocks to win the tie or get a high-scoring draw to qualify for the CAF U23 in Morocco that will take place in June and July, with the top three from there qualifying for the Olympic Games in France next year.
Mailula, 21, is part of the Bafana Bafana squad that will face Liberia in a double-header in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, starting today at Orlando Stadium and four days later in Monrovia.
He has been on fire for his club Mamelodi Sundowns in his debut season, with nine league goals to his name, where the Tshwane giants just need a sole win next month to claim the sixth and unprecedented successive title.
The youngster has also shone brightly in the CAF Champions League for Sundowns, impressively scoring five goals in seven matches in the Africa premier’s club competition.
After they drew with the young Congolese side, where the Young Bafana failed to open up their opponents, calls have been awash to add Mailula, who given the sniff of a chance, can put it away, to the squad for the return leg.
Notoane revealed that he would love to have the Sundowns striker but admitted he and Bafana coach Hugo Broos agreed in a meeting that he should form part of the senior team.
“To be honest, that is not in my mind at the moment,” said Notoane, when asked about Mailula.
“Logistically, it comes with its own challenges. We have a very talented group of players. By the way, we played against a team that has been together for a while and you can see some players have CHAN experience and probably a lot more, compared to the analysis that we did coming to this game…
“Ashley Cupido showed aggression and these are the experiences they have to pick up. I think the most important lesson now is, we are in this situation and maybe a lot of these players it’s the first time they are in, but how do we deal with it.
“We have to do whatever it takes to cross the line [to progress in Congo].”
