8 May 2013

Bafana Bafana will play an international friendly against neighbours Lesotho in preparation for their two forthcoming Fifa World Cup qualifying matches against the Central African Republic and Ethiopia, the South African Football Association (Safa) announced on Tuesday.

Gordon Igesund's charges will lock horns with neighbours Lesotho at the Maseru Stadium in Maseru on Saturday, 1 June. Kickoff is scheduled for 15:00.

Commenting on the friendly, Igesund said: "This is a hugely important match for us and we must thank the Lesotho FA for agreeing to the fixture as we struggled to get a warm-up ahead of the two important qualifiers.

'Help a great deal'

"The last time we played a match was in March when we faced the CAR (Central African Republic) in Cape Town, so this clash against Lesotho will help a great deal with our preparations. We wanted to get at least two matches, but we could not because there is no Fifa date available," he added.

"The advantage with Lesotho is that there is not too much travelling involved and with so many injuries to key players, this would be a great opportunity to give other fringe players a chance before we throw them into real matches."

Bafana Bafana will travel to Cameroon for a date with the CAR in the first World Cup qualifier on Saturday, 8 June in Yaounde. The South Africans will remain in camp in Cameroon before leaving for Addis Ababa on 14 June to face Ethiopia in their next World Cup qualifier on Sunday, 16 June.

High altitude

"We have to remain in Cameroon to deal with the issue of the high altitude in Ethiopia. Ideally we should be in Addis Ababa at least 12 days or so before the match, but seeing that we are unable to, we have to go in as late as possible, play our match and get out before we suffer from high altitude," Igesund explained.

The Ethiopians are currently top of African World Cup Qualifying Group A. They have seven points after two wins and one draw. South Africa are in second place on five points, having won one and drawn two games.

Standings

The CAR, with a win and two losses, has three points, while Botswana props up the table with one point (having drawn with Bafana in Botswana before Igesund took charge) and two losses.

Bafana coach Igesund leaves for Egypt on Thursday to attend the 2012 and the 2013 AFCON tournament seminar where he will deliver a keynote address. He will return to South Africa on Monday, 13 May and is expected to announce his squad for the three forthcoming matches on Thursday, 16 May.

SAinfo reporter