Although hosts South Africa have a poor record against their upcoming visitors Nigeria, Bafana Bafana nonetheless managed to shock the Super Eagles last year after they met in the qualifying rounds for the 2015 AFCON tournament.
Two draws against the West African nation were enough to effectively dump them out of the tournament even before it kicked off, meaning that the reigning AFCON champions were shockingly unable to have a chance to defend their title. Whilst South Africa had already secured qualification themselves after defeating Sudan, it was a bittersweet moment for Ephraim Mashaba's men, as star goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa had been shot and killed earlier that month.
They were also quite close to securing a historic competitive win over Nigeria - which would have been their first - after going 2-0 up, but the Super Eagles rallied back to hang on for a two-all stalemate. To that end, Mashaba has encouraged his squad to be wary of the wounded pride of the three-time AFCON champions.
"Nigeria are still feeling bitter after knocking them out," Mashaba noted during a pre-match press conference.
"To them, it's payback time, [so] of course they still want to show us that they are still the best when comes to football in Africa."
The home side will be coming into this match feeling confident after a solid 3-1 win over Swaziland earlier this week, but the visitors indeed will be still licking their wounds after a surprise 1-0 loss - at home - to Uganda. To make matters worse, it was supposed to be a celebration for captain Vincent Enyeama as the Lille goalkeeper reached a century of caps, but instead the team were subject to boos as the fans vented their frustration with Stephen Keshi and the squad's performance as of late.
To make matters worse, reports from Nigeria have indicated that Enyeama will not feature due to a back problem.
Lille goalkeeper and team captain Vincent Enyeama will not feature due to a back problem, and other notable absentees include Chelsea's John Obi Mikel, West Brom's Brown Ideye, Fenerbache's Emmanuel Emenike, and Celtic's Efe Ambrose.
In terms of friendlies, South Africa and Nigeria have met eleven times. The Super Eagles overwhelmingly hold an advantage as they have won seven out of those encounters whilst Bafana Bafana have tasted victory just once. The other three games ended in a stalemate as neither were able to find a way past each other.
However, given the downturn in form for Nigeria, coupled with South Africa's solid showings as of late, one can certainly expect this to be a close game. Will the hosts be able to do what they have been seeking to pull off since November 17 2004 and defeat their visitors in a friendly?
Tune in to find out!
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