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Cape Town - Bafana Bafana's young 2019 COSAFA Cup squad have the chance to prove themselves at international level when they face Botswana in Sunday's quarter-final clash at the Princess Magogo Stadium.
Coach David Notoane has selected a team filled with younger U23 talents such as Zakhele Lepasa (Orlando Pirates - spent last season on loan to TS Galaxy), Liam Jordan (Koge FC, Denmark) and Teboho Mokoena (SuperSport United) amongst others.
The camp has not been without some challenges as Mamelodi Sundowns forward Phakamani Mahlambi was withdrawn because his mental state was not said to be right.
Notoane is trying to take the positives from the situation by challenging his players to cope with the absence of the 21-year-old.
He said: "This also gives us an opportunity to see this team without Mahlambi. This camp also a chance to look at new faces in our youth setup. We had to look at the positive side and hopefully, he will sort out his issue at home and be in a good state of mind to join Sundowns during pre-season."
Nonetheless, senior team coach Stuart Baxter has said that players can win a place in his Africa Cup of Nations squad for the tournament in Egypt if they perform well.
Montpellier winger Keagan Dolly will no doubt be a player to watch for Notoane's men. The former Sundowns star requested to be included as he is seeking to improve his match fitness following an injury-disrupted season in France's Ligue 1.
Meanwhile, Botswana are something of an unknown commodity though Bafana has had the edge on the Zebras in the last four tournaments - winning three and losing just once on penalties.
The visitors do have some Premiership experience in their ranks in the form of veterans Joel Mogorosi and Ofentse Nato.
Coach Mogomotsi Mpote also selected Baroka's Onkabetse Makgantai as well as Highlands Park midfielder Lebogang Ditsele.
Kick-off is 15:00 at in Durban.
