OWN CORRESPONDENT, Auckland | Friday 11.00am.
SOUTH Africa’s national under-23 soccer team, the Amaglug-glugs, will meet the New Zealand Oly Whites in the second-leg of their Olympic Qualifier at Vosloorus on Saturday, and if they learnt anything in the first-leg, will take their opponents very seriously indeed.
The Oly Whites lost the first-leg 3-2 in Auckland, but gave the South Africans an enormous amount of trouble, dominating the Amaglugs with their physical strength and mastery of the ball in the air.
The Amaglugs eventually found a way of countering the agressive Kiwis, and ended the match with a vital lead going into the second-leg which will be played in front of a fanatical crowd at Vosloorus Stadium.
The venue, known as “the slaughterhouse” has proved to be a happy hunting ground for the Amaglugs, and the Oly Whites will certainly be in for a culture-shock when they take the field. The supporters at Vosloorus are a far cry from those in Auckland, with much joviality and festivity an integral part of any international.
While the Amaglugs enjoy a distinct home-ground advantage, the Kiwis showed last week that they mean business, and the South Africans cannot afford to rest on their laurels.
Even though they are playing at home, the Amaglugs don’t have everything going their way. Aaron Mokoena and Benni McCarthy are out of the match after having picked up two bookings, while coach Ephraim “Shakes” Mashaba’s outburst in the first-leg will see him watching the match from the stands.
The South Africans have however acquired the services of the experienced Stanton Fredericks — who with 33 caps is the most experienced campaigner in the side. AmaZulu’s Musa Mntakwende is also recalled in the place of Mokoena, who played a blinder last week.
The Amaglugs will have beefed up their defence following the first leg when they were overrun in the early minutes and conceded a goal to Paul Urlovic in the first ten minutes.
Up front, Siyabonga Nomvete, who has a phenomenal strike-rate of 12 goals in 20 matches, should keep the Oly Whites’ defenders guessing, but he will have to guard against Chris Killen and particularly Ryan Nelsen, who was fantastic at the back last week.
The Oly Whites will struggle to come away with a dream result when one considers the conditions, venue and the first-leg deficit, but there is no way that they are going to be pushovers. The Amaglugs were given an uphill battle last week, and the Kiwis are sure to come out with their guns-a-blazing.