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Ricky Zililo in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
SOUTH Africa’s national Under-23 coach Owen da Gama is not stressing about the second leg of the African Championships qualifier against Zimbabwe at Harry Gwala tonight in Pietermaritzburg.

The encounter kicks off at 8PM.

The winner of the tie will qualify for the 8-Nations, taking place in Senegal from November 28 to December 12. The top three finishers at the continental event will earn a spot at Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

The Business Day daily newspaper here reported that the Amaglug-glug coach only had 15 players in camp on Wednesday as some teams refused to release players for the encounter.

Bidvest Wits refused to release Phumlani Ntshangase while Brondby also declined to release Lebogang Phiri for the crucial encounter.

Da Gama was grateful to clubs that released players for national duty saying “it’s not easy for clubs to release players just when the season is about to start”.

Da Gama also warned his players and supporters against undermining the Young Warriors saying “Zimbabwe are no pushovers” although he is expecting his charges to dominate the game on home soil.

“They’re a highly experienced team. They’ve been together since the 2012 Cosafa Cup and they’re unbeaten in 14 matches. They like to sit back and then they come at you in the last 20 minutes, but we’re at home and we’ve to make sure that we dominate against them,” da Gama told Business Day.

Sport 24 quoted former Bafana Bafana defender Matthew Booth saying Amaglug-glug have what it takes to succeed.

“They did a very good job in Harare when they drew 1-1, so basically the ball is in their court,” said Booth.

He praised the skills of the team in the previous match against Zimbabwe and hopes they will use every opportunity they get on the field.

“They need to make sure they take advantage of every opportunity to get the desired results. So hopefully they can bring it home.”

The two teams played to a 1-1 stalemate in Harare two weeks ago with South Africa getting the crucial away goal through midfielder Dolly Keagan. The Young Warriors replied in the 83rd minute through Walter Musona from the penalty spot after the visitors’ captain Ishmael Mngonyama handled in the box.

Maritzburg United’s Zimbabwean player Khumbulani Banda has said the Young Warriors are capable of knocking out Amaglug-Glug from the African Championships despite troubles that have have dogged their preparations.

The Young Warriors left Harare yesterday afternoon and were scheduled to arrive in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu Natal province, for the must win game last night.

Zimbabwe will have a feel of the match venue this morning just like what the senior national team did in their away Afcon qualifier against Malawi.

Zimbabwe needs a win or get a high scoring draw to progress for the eight-country tournament.

The Olympic qualifiers remain the only international competition for Zimbabwean soccer players to hoist the country’s flag after Fifa banned the country from the 2018 World Cup qualifiers following Zifa’s failure to pay Brazilian coach Valinhos his outstanding pay. The former Warriors’ coach is owed $81,000 by Zifa and Fifa will only lift the ban after the debt has been cleared.

“Harry Gwala Stadium has natural turf and the guys should be comfortable with it. They are likely to get support from Zimbabweans who will come from Durban, which is just 100KM away. I think it’s going to be a good game and Zimbabwe will win. These boys have shown great potential and are the future of our country’s football. Besides, the boys know that this is an opportunity to market themselves and make all Zimbabweans proud,” said Banda.

The Young Warriors’ hopes will be pinned on the Europe bound duo of Wisdom Mutasa and Walter Musona, who should drive the midfield and create scoring chances for either Mgcini Sibanda or Knox Mutizwa upfront.

Teenage Hadebe is expected to marshal the defence while Dynamos goalminder Tatenda Mukuruva will guard the sticks.

While Zimbabwe had bad preparations, South Africa beat Rwanda 2-0 during the week with goals from Mamelodi Sundowns’ Dolly and Siphiwe Khambule of Highlands Park.