Cape Town - David Notoane, the South African Under-23 coach, has stepped down from the hot seat after the side failed to qualify for the 2023 Under-23 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco later this year.
They failed after the team was held to a goalless draw by hosts Congo-Brazzaville in a second-leg qualifier on Monday.
This means South Africa will not be participating in Afcon in June and the Paris Olympic Games in 2024.
On Wednesday, Notoane broke the news of his resignation on Marawa Sports Worldwide.
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Notoane said he took responsibility for the side's failure and the honourable thing to do was to vacate the position.
"Of course, it was a very emotional moment after the game," said Notoane. "It was very draining after a long trip and I had a long night digesting everything.
"We were good enough to win the games with the chances we created. Our challenges were in the preparation and cohesion in the team with the timeline that we had to work with.
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"It’s a huge personal drawback for me. We failed and when you fail you have to take accountability and that’s on me. You have to accept it and dust yourself off."
Without going into too much detail, Notoane mentioned that there were several factors that contributed to the U23's failure.
He pointed out that the age-group teams were not enjoying enough attention and as a result, they were not playing enough matches on the continental stage.
He explained this hamstrung the development of players as they moved through to the ranks and ultimately they were not ready at U23 and Bafana Bafana levels.
@Herman_Gibbs