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Cape Town - South Africa Under-23 men’s national team will face Algeria in the semi-final of the CAF Under-23 Africa Cup of Nations tournament currently underway in Senegal.
Algeria finished top of Group B after a goalless draw against Nigeria on Saturday, December 5 setting up a clash with Owen da Gama’s boys who had already clinched a last four berth following a 1-0 victory over Tunisia.
South Africa finished second in Group A.
Algeria and South Africa meet on Wednesday, December 9 at Stade Leopold Senghor in Dakar.
Algeria comes into this match following a 1-1 draw with Egypt; 2-0 victory over Mali and the goalless draw against Nigeria, while South Africa lost their opening match 3-1 to Senegal and defeated Zambia and Tunisia 3-2 and 1-0 respectively.
In the other semi-final encounter, hosts Senegal are up against Nigeria on the same day and at the same venue.
"Oh yes, the dream lives on," said Da Gama.
"When we left home the mission was to qualify for the Rio Olympic Games, and we are still on track.
"We mentioned that we will take it one game at a time, and it has worked for us.
"We did not want to get ahead of ourselves by thinking about the final before we had even qualified for the last four.
"Now we are just one match away from achieving our dreams. It would make life so much easier if we were to qualify for the final outright and eliminate all the pressure, that would also be killing two birds with one stone - qualifying for the Olympics and playing in the final."
CAF u23 AFCON Fixtures:
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Semi-finals:
1st Group A (Senegal) vs 2nd Group B (Nigeria)
17:00 SA time
1st Group B (Algeria) vs 2nd Group A (South Africa)
20:30 SA time
Both at Léopold Senghor Stadium (Senegal)
Saturday, December 12, 2015
3rd Place Play Offs:
Léopold Senghor Stadium (Senegal)
18:00 SA Time
Final:
Léopold Senghor Stadium (Senegal)
21:00 SA Time
