Pretoria - Bafana Bafana will be hoping to continue their winning spree when they take on Bulgaria at Orlando Stadium tonight.
After tonight's match, the national team will have two friendly matches left before Coach Alberto Parreira announces his 23-man final squad for the World Cup. Players are fighting for places in the final 23-man squad that Parreira will announce as per FIFA rules by 1 June.
The recent previous encounters against lowly ranked Jamaica and Thailand were seen as a walk in the park for Bafana. But tonight's action against Bulgaria, which is ranked 39 on FIFA world rankings, will be seen as a test for Bafana ahead of another crucial showing against Columbia on 27 May. They will then take on Denmark on June 5 at a venue yet to be confirmed.
Benni McCarthy, who according to Parreira is still not match fit, will miss out on tonight's action. Strikers Katlego Mphela and Siphiwe Tshabalala are expected to lead the attack against Bulgaria.
It's not clear whether English-based midfielder Steven Pienaar, who joined the camp at the weekend, will make it to the starting line-up as Parreira may want him to rest him following a hectic playing schedule.
Meanwhile, teams are expected to start arriving in the country this week with Australia set to touch down at OR Tambo International on Tuesday while Brazil is expected on Thursday. There are only 17 days left before the first World Cup opening match on the African soil.
Kick-off for the Bafana match tonight is at 8:30pm.
