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South African Under-23 head coach David Notoane has abandoned his plans to include England-based defender Nikola Tavares in the team to face Angola in their 2020 Olympic qualifier in Luanda on Friday.
Notoane told City Press the 20-year-old’s South African passport had expired and it would require a long administration process to renew it.
Tavares was born to Croatian parents in Cape Town and he holds a passport for the Europe country.
Also, there was uncertainty over the highly rated player’s allegiance since he had already represented Croatia at the Under-20 level.
“I spoke to him and the boy has given his commitment to play for us,” said Notoane.
“We have dropped him from this camp and hopefully he’ll join us in future camps. [Fifa] rules still allow him to represent South Africa because he has not played for Croatia at senior national level.”
Fifa regulations permit a player to represent one country at youth international level and another at senior level, provided the player applies before their 21st birthday.
Friday’s match will be the first time in a long while that the Under-23s return to action.
The juniors have been idle since the team’s appearance at the Olympics in Brazil three years ago.
The latest camp comprises some of the players with junior World Cup experience returning from the wilderness.
These include goalkeeper Mondli Mpoto, defenders Tercious Malepe, Thendo Mukumela, Katlego Mohamme and Sandile Mthethwa, as well as Denmark-based striker Liam Jordan.
This group featured in the most recent junior global championships, but later disappeared under the radar.
But Notoane has been keeping track of most of the players he has called up, aided by his involvement as the Mamelodi Sundowns reserve team coach.
“It helps coming from club development and Safa structures. I share ideas with other coaches on the ground and I have been following the games,” he said, also referring to his previous spell with the junior national teams as deputy to Shakes Mashaba in 2011.
Even Jomo Cosmos coach Jomo Sono vouched for Notoane this week.
He said the former Santos striker was a regular spectator at NFD games.
So far, Notoane – who has renowned development coach Kwanele Kopo as his national team assistant – said he was satisfied with his team selection for the Angola game.
“The first leg away gives you an advantage of measuring your opponent thoroughly if you have limited info on them.
“We are satisfied with the research we have done on Angola,” said Notoane.
“Their coach is a former Under-20 coach and we played them in the Cosafa Cup recently.
“On paper, we should progress, but there are lots of psychological dimensions to a two-legged game. The anticipation is that you win at home.”
The reverse fixture is pencilled in for March 26 at Bidvest Stadium.
The aggregate winner will meet either Zimbabwe or eSwatini/Mozambique in the second round.
If they go past the second round of the qualifying campaign, South Africa will earn a pass to the CAF eight nations tournament in Egypt in November, where the three top teams will represent Africa at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
