South Africa coach (Photo: Al Ahram)
South Africa U23 national football team coach David Notoane said that his team will work hard to beat Egypt in the U23 Africa Cup of Nations semifinals on Tuesday to reach the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
"We played a friendly game against Egypt before the tournament's start and so we are ready for the game," Notoane told a press conference on Monday.
"The better team will win as the tournament reaches its final phase, so we will face Egypt with our best squad," the South Africa coach added.
Egypt is hosting the U23 continental tournament from 8 to 22 november.
The top three teams will automatically qualify for the Tokyo games.
"We will work to achieve the victory to qualify for the final game as we came to Egypt to win the trophy. I hoped to face Egypt in the final, not in the semifinals, especially since the game will be played before a big number of their fans," Notoane added.
South Africa have booked their place in the semifinals of the U23 Africa Cup of Nations after they placed second in the Group B ranking with five points following a draw with Nigeria on Friday.
Egypt achieved the full mark of nine points to snatch the top place in Group A, setting up a semifinal clash with South Africa.
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