Togo is hosting South Africa this afternoon for the first leg of their U23 AFCON qualifiers double tie at Kegué Stadium, in Lomé from 16:00 GMT.
The Togolese side is in competition as they played two games in the previous round of the qualifiers while the Amaglug-glug had a bye.
Afizou Traore’s men eliminated Mauritania to book their place to this round thanks to their 2-0 home win in the reverse leg after losing the first leg 1-0 in Nouackchott.
However, the team will be missing two key players for this clash against the Olympic Bafana Bafana as Sparta Rotterdam defender Augustin Drakpe failed to report to camp due to his club agenda.
Feyenoord Rotterdam midfield sensation Karim Dermane will also miss the game as the Dutch side did not release him.
Read more : U23 AFCON qualifiers – Togo vs South Africa : David Notoane confident of winning
On the other hand, David Notoane has also been forced to make the trip to Lomé with some of South Africa’s U-20 side who were at the 2022 COSAFA Challenge Cup as five of the players he called have not been made available by their clubs.
“I think the challenges we had in terms of availability of players are well documented,” Notoane said ahead of the game.
“We have lost some key players that we have called up guys like Ethan Brooks (AmaZulu), Azola Matrose, Zuko Mdunyelwa (both Chippa United). We waited for Aphelele Teto, and Kamogelo Mahlangu but after the (Kaizer) Chiefs game on Wednesday TS Galaxy withdrawn their players, we could not get them. But that has afforded an opportunity to under-20 players to be integrated into the team as we have now added Aden McCarthy and Ntandoyenkosi Nkosi.”
Where to watch Togo U23 vs South Africa U23 Live?
The game will be live streamed on Togolese Football Federation’s social media both Facebook and YouTube.
The encounter will be commentated by Africa Top Sports’ Aime ATTI in French and in English.