Mdu Shabalala confident ahead of SA U23's moment of truth in Congo

By Velile Mnyandu
27th March 2023

There’s an air of optimism in the national U23 camp ahead of this evening’s crucial African Cup of Nations qualifier against Congo in Brazzaville as they look to seal qualification to Morocco in June this year.

Speaking to SABC Sport after their controversial matchday-minus-one training session at the Massamba-Debat Stadium in Brazzaville last night, Kaizer Chiefs attacker Mduduzi Shabalala seemed confident they will overcome all the challenges to reach the AFCON.

Shabalala says they were not happy with the result and hope to do better in Congo.

"It's been tough, we are not happy with the results. We could have done better in terms of scoring and converting chances that we got in the first half. But here in Congo we are trying our level best to be ourselves," he said.

“Mdu or die”, as Shabalala is known, provided an assist for Thapelo Maseko during the first leg 1-1 draw last week and highlighted their key areas ahead of this game.

"We need to convert our chances and defend very well and not allow them to have more ball possession. We need to win the game as early as possible when we get those chances," he added.

Shabalala knows the disappointment of missing out on qualifying for major competitions, having recently missed out on the AFCON U20 and previously the AFCON U17, which was canceled in the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

"It's something that we have always wanted as players, firstly we won COSAFA but we couldn't go to Afcon due to Covid. Last year we played a tournament in Eswatini because we couldn't go to Afcon with the Under-20s. So, this is our last chance and I hope we can make it special for everyone," he explained.

The SA U23’s have also not had adequate preparation for such a crucial qualifier, and they have been playing a team that’s well prepared with players from the recent AFCON U20 tournament in Egypt, the CHAN tournament in Algeria two months ago, and most importantly, players with regular CAF Champions League and CAF Confed Cup preparations. But Shabalala feels otherwise about preparations and points at missed chances.

"Today at training we were working on finishing and converting chances that we create. We know that in the game we'll get the chances and we'll have to convert them so we can be able to move into the next round, which is Afcon," he concluded.