Bafana Bafana continue their preparations ahead of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations with a clash against holders Zambia in the Nelson Mandela Challenge on Wednesday.
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South Africa qualified for the continental extravaganza courtesy of their status as host nation, giving coach Gordon Igesund the luxury of being able to test different squad members and formations.
The former Moroka Swallows tactician has already led the team to a slender 1-0 defeat in Brazil, a 2-0 win over Mozambique, another 1-0 loss to Poland while their most recent outing ended in a 2-1 success over Kenya.
Those results have the country buzzing with anticipation ahead of next year's finals, while this week's tie against the Copper Bullets will provide Bafana with their biggest African challenge since Igesund took over in August.
The 56-year-old had plenty of players recovering from a tightly congested week of football, with many of his squad members having participated in both PSL matches and the Telkom Knockout quarter-finals that took place over a seven-day period, starting last weekend.
Igesund, though, is excited about the prospect of testing his charges against Zambia, who he rates as one of the top African teams at the moment.
"They [Zambia] are a really good team, they are well organised and they have some useful players in the side," he told MTNFootball.
"Win or lose, this game will give me a good indication where we are and how we are progressing.
"The players have had a tough weekend; some have played three games in a week, so I couldn't do anything with them (on Monday). On Tuesday I've got maybe an hour-and-a-half to prepare them for the match, but we'll be fine.
"This is the type of game that we need. I think we are much better than what we were a month ago, so I think it's a good game for us to have."
Igesund is likely to give Tokelo Rantie a start against Chipolopolo, the Malmo striker currently not playing any competitive football following the end of Sweden's top-flight season last month.
Fellow Swedish-based player May Mahlangu, though, will not travel with the team as Igesund revealed he will be looking to test more of his fringe players at Soccer City.
"May is not part of the squad to play Zambia, because I want to look at other players but he could be considered still for future matches," he had told Football411.
Meanwhile, Zambia coach Herve Renard says he is targeting nothing less than victory this week as the side look to exact their revenge for their previous Mandela Challenge clash in 1994 when Bafana won 2-1.
"I expect the game against South Africa in Johannesburg to be a very interesting. It will be a good game in a fantastic stadium. For us, we are going there for a win," he told Fazfootball.
"We want to win this Mandela Challenge and we are looking forward to it. It's a platform for us to continue carrying forward the pride of our great country Zambia."
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