Mashaba: Make or break

Johannesburg - South Africa Under-23 coach Shakes Mashaba has called on his squad to grab the bull by the horns when they take on Egypt in their crunch Olympic Games qualifying clash against Egypt.

'Baby Bafana' have drawn both of their opening two Group A matches against the Ivory Coast and Gabon respectively, although Mashaba's men surrendered the lead in both those encounters.

Those result have left the U23's needing to beat Egypt in their final group match if they are to progress to the semi-finals of the 2012 Olympic Games feeder tournament.

"This (game against Egypt) is our last chance. The competitive attitude has to be instilled in them. Play like you normally play at home," the coach said.

"If we win this game, I'm sure we will go on to surprise a lot of people and teams in the competition."

Mashaba was left ruing his side's defensive frailties during the respective 1-1 draws earlier in the tournament.

"We had our talk in the dressing room after the Gabon match, where the players also gave their views on the game," Mashaba added.

"The picking up in the box was not right, and the central midfield was also a worry.

"We showed signs of fatigue and most unfortunately, we should have been sitting with six points at this stage."

The U23's will take on Egypt on Saturday afternoon, with the Ivory Coast facing Gabon in a simultaneous fixture in Tangiers, with all four teams standing a chance of progressing to the last four.