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Cape Town - Stanton Fredericks insists that the national under-23 side will need more than individual talent to make it to the Olympics.
The under-23 national side take on Egypt in a friendly on Friday as they prepare for the Olympic qualifiers – Sport24 spoke to Fredericks about what it means to play for Amaglug-glug.
Fredericks was a member of the famous under-23 side that beat Brazil at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 and he attributes that to having opened the door for him to pursue a career abroad.
"The direct benefit of playing for the under-23's at the Olympics was that I got spotted by Grasshopper Club Zürich in Switzerland," he said.
"We played against the likes of Ronaldinho in the Olympics.
"But it’s not about us and what we have done. What these guys (the current squad) need to do is qualify so that they are exposed to those kinds of opportunities.”
Fredericks believes that South Africa has the talent to beat anyone but recognizes that it is about more than just individual skill.
"If guys like Keagan Dolly and (Riyaad) Norodien are in the team then we should be strong, but our ability has always been there.
"We had a team with the likes of Tso Vilakazi, Stephen Pienaar and Derick Spencer and they were probably better than what we (the Sydney Olympics side) had but the difference was that we got together and we were like a family under Shakes Mashaba."
