The South Africa national development football team, is a development
football (soccer) team, which represents
South Africa and is controlled by the
South African Football Association, the governing body for
football in South Africa. The team's main objective is to give international exposure to fringe home-based players, by allowing them to play 'B-level' internationals. Since the advent of the
African Nations Championship, the team now attempts to qualify for and play at the event. Since 2008 SAFA have sent the team to the
COSAFA Cup, instead of the
senior team. The team has played at one African Nations Championship and two COSAFA Cups.
Player eligibility
African Championship of Nations regulations require teams to be made up only of players from the association's national leagues. As the team is not an official national team, and does not play in FIFA sanctioned tournaments, clubs are not required to release players for matches. Usually the only
Premier Soccer League players released are non-squad members. Many players are selected from the
National First Division (second tier) and
Vodacom League (third tier).[citation needed]
Match status
Matches played by the team are not classified as 'A-level' internationals. Thus
caps awarded for matches do not count as
senior national team caps. Matches played by the team also do not count towards FIFA ranking points, even when the team plays other countries' senior national teams.
Algeria A
Khartoum Stadium,
Khartoum,
Sudan
Zimbabwe
Niger
Ghana
Sweden
Mbombela Stadium,
Nelspruit,
South Africa
2009