Ajax Cape Town’s Abbubaker Mobara is in a race against time to be fit for the South African Under-23 side’s all-important Eight Nations encounter against Tunisia on Friday.
The tournament is the continental Olympic qualifier for the Rio 2016 Olympics. The top three countries secure a spot at the global sporting spectacular.
The match against the North Africans at the Caroline Faye Stadium in Mbour, Senegal, tomorrow (kickoff 5pm) is the South Africans’ final Group A fixture and, after a courageous come-from-behind 3-2 victory over Zambia on Tuesday, at least their fate is in their own hands.
With Senegal defeating Tunisia 2-0 in Tuesday’s other game in the group, the log standings have Senegal top with six points, followed by South Africa on three, Tunisia also on three, and Zambia yet to get on the board and out of contention.
Senegal have already qualified, which means South Africa needs a win or a draw to finish second and book a place in the semi-finals.
Utility man Mobara – he played in midfield in the opening 3-1 loss to Senegal and at right back in 3-2 win over Zambia – is a doubtful starter for Friday. The lad from Mitchells Plain limped off in the second half on Wednesday and U23 coach Owen da Gama has the medical staff working overtime to have him ready.
“He (Mobara) is not looking good at this stage,” said Da Gama. “But we will allow the medical team to assess him and we will take it from there. We should soon have a clearer picture with regard to his groin injury. But, in the event that he does not make it, it will create an opportunity for someone else to play in his position.”
While Da Gama is happy with the much-needed win over Zambia, he’s keeping his feet firmly on the ground. Now, he stressed, is not the time for complacency as the job is still far from done.
“It’s great to be going into the final group match with your fate still in your own hands. I think the win for Senegal makes a strong point that whoever wins between Tunisia and South Africa will go through.
“If it’s a draw, we will proceed because we have scored more goals than Tunisia. But for us, we need to win this game, we can’t go for a draw. Also, it is crucial that we do not concede.
“In a tournament like this, it is not how you start, but how you finish. Ideally, it is good to start strong and finish stronger, but sometimes teams get better as the tournament progresses and peak at the right time. I certainly don’t think we have reached our potential yet.
“Yes, we have scored three goals (against Zambia), but we still haven’t played the way we know how to play.”
Da Gama was lavish in his praise for Gift Motupa and Menzi Masuku, the two heroes in the win over Zambia, emphasising just how important they are to the overall make-up of the U23 squad.
The Orlando Pirates duo missed the opening loss to Senegal because they were in Tunisia for the Buccaneers’ CAF Confederation Cup final, which they lost 3-2 on aggregate to Etoile du Sahel.
Afterwards, the two U23 stars jetted to Senegal, assumed their midfield places for the Zambia fixture, and inspired the team to victory, with Masuku netting the equalising goal to make the score 1-1 and Motupa scoring twice afterwards.
“Masuku and Motupa are an integral part of this team,” said Da Gama.
“When we played a friendly against Tanzania, Motupa scored two… against Egypt, Masuku scored the winning goal… and when we beat Sudan, Masuku scored the winner.
“So these are players who score goals for us. They also understand how the rest of the team functions. But the main task now is to make sure the squad understands the importance of winning this game against Tunisia, not only for the morale of the team, but also to ensure that we go to the next round in a strong frame of mind.”
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