Highlands will this evening face Mamelodi Sundowns in the quarterfinals of the Nedbank Cup, after eliminating Kaizer Chiefs in the previous round.
Facing two giants in succession and still progressing will undoubtedly be a massive feat for a side that have earlier this season also reached their first cup final, which they lost to SuperSport United.
Now just two matches away from another final, Da Gama says his charges are excited to come up against The Brazilians in an all-or-nothing encounter and compares these two rounds in the cup to facing the senior national team.
"We're really looking forward to this, it's self-motivational playing against Chiefs and Sundowns – these are massive teams," said Da Gama.
"The boys go out there and compete with the best in the country, I mean it's basically going to compete with Bafana Bafana.
"So, it's a great learning curve for us and we're really cherishing this upcoming Nedbank Cup game."
Kick-off at Makhulong Stadium is scheduled for 18h00.