3 October 2026 – South African U23 Men’s National Team assistant coach Karabo Mogudi has warned his players to not allow complacency to set in when they face their Algerian counterparts in the second international friendly match on Sunday.
The clash will take place at the Dr Petrus Molemela Stadium in Bloemfontein and kicks off at 15h00. South Africa came back from behind to win the first encounter 3-1, with all three second half substitutes getting on the scoresheet. But Mogudi says it won’t be easy as they intend to rotate the players.
“It’s going to be tough because of this 3-1 win, and we need to work a lot on the consistency factor, making sure that our boys are not complacent because sometimes complacency can creep in and we don’t want that,” said Mogudi.
“Since we are in a building phase of this squad, it is important that we rotate the squad around a bit, it is crucial that everyone gets minutes, our goalkeepers also need minutes, so everyone must get minutes and this is the only way we can build a solid foundation for the journey ahead. Yes about 60 to 70 percent of these players have been with us since the U20 program, while some were in the U17 squad, hence the need to build a proper unit and make them one.”
Mogudi has also conveyed his appreciation to the fans of Bloemfontein who came in numbers in the first match. He has urged them to continue supporting the team.
“We saw the support and we are very thankful that they came through, and I know that there will be more fans on Sunday. We can never thank the fans enough and we are grateful because the 12th man is very important, hopefully it will be a full house on match day so that we can push our boys,” added Mogudi.
With head coach Raymond Mdaka on special leave due to a family bereavement, the South African U23 Men’s National Team squad has roped in former Bafana Bafana international, David Nyathi, who is a youth coach and talent scout at SAFA, to join the technical team for the last Algeria match.
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