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Cape Town - The South African Under-23 men’s national team played and beat Taifa Stars of Tanzania 2-0 in a practice match on Tuesday afternoon in sweltering heat at Eldorado Park Stadium.
A brace from Gift Motupa brought out a sense of excitement from coach Owen da Gama who insisted if the mental strength remains positive, this squad is capable of achieving something at the 8-Nations tournament in Senegal.
Da Gama said while the result was great, it was not very critical in the bigger scheme of things," said Da Gama.
"Our main focus was to have a look at combinations and a few players that we have brought in for the first time in the camp.
"The boys are looking fresh and we are looking forward to playing in Senegal.
"We are confident that we can qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics but we need to work hard; we can do this.
"We wanted to play under these conditions because when we get to Senegal we will have to deal with these type of scorching weather conditions.
"We as the technical team have being emphasizing the importance of mental strength to the players; I believe that it will be a crucial component of our game."
