South Africa will travel to Equatorial Guinea for their final 2010 FIFA World Cup/Africa Cup of Nations qualifier on Saturday afternoon with nothing more than pride to play for after a disappointing qualifying campaign.

Bafana Bafana are out of the running for one of 20 places in the final phase of African qualifiers after winning just one of their five games in Group Four. Nigeria have already secured top place in the pool, while their opponents on Saturday, Sierra Leone, still have a chance of qualifying as one of eight best runners-up if they can upset the 'Super Eagles'.

South Africa and Equatorial Guinea will battle to avoid the dreaded wooden spoon, and Bafana must be wary of the central Africans, who will surely be seeking revenge after being given a 4-1 thrashing in Pretoria earlier in the campaign.

New Equatorial Guinea coach Vicente Engonga, Spain's first black international during his playing days, took over from Brazilian Jordan de Freitas several weeks back and suffered a defeat in his first game away to Sierra Leone. However, he will surely relish the opportunity to claim the scalp of the 2010 hosts.

South Africa coach Joel Santana, meanwhile, has picked a squad with a blend of experienced overseas-based campaigners and younger, locally-based players.

In particular, he has rewarded young Thanda Royal Zulu striker Bernard Parker, who leads the Absa Premiership's scoring chart with four goals and also hit a brace for Bafana in their 3-0 win over Malawi in Germiston last week.

"We may have lost out to qualify for the 2010 African Cup of Nations, but this is a competitive game and we will play to win it," said Santana.

"That is why we have assembled the best possible squad to play this game. As you will note the team is a balance of experienced and young players."

Santana's side dominated their last qualifier, a home match against Nigeria, but they still fell 1-0 to the visiting West Africans.

However, veteran defender Bradley Carnell, who currently plies his trade in Germany, saw a lot of positives in the match for South Africa.

"We played well against Nigeria," said Carnell. "We should have got a better result but at the end of the day we showed we are on the right track and the team is starting to come together."

But while Carnell may be optimistic, South Africa's poor away record may count against them in Malabo, especially as Equatorial Guinea managed to defeat Sierra Leone at home in their opening qualifier.

Bafana last won a competitive away match in March 2007, a 3-0 defeat of Chad in Ndjamena. They will have to put in a much improved performance against Nigeria if they are to break the drought.

The Bafana squad:

GOALKEEPERS: Brian Baloyi (Mamelodi Sundowns), Itumeleng Khune (Kaizer Chiefs), Shu-Aib Walters (Bloemfontein Celtic).

DEFENDERS: Matthew Booth (Krylya Sovetov Samara, Russia), Bradley Carnell (Karlsruher, Germany), Bevan Fransman (Maccabi Netanya, Israel), Siboniso Gaxa (Mamelodi Sundowns), Morgan Gould (SuperSport United), Tsepo Masilela (Maccabi Haifa, Israel), Aaron Mokoena (Blackburn Rovers, England), Bryce Moon (Panathinaikos, Greece), Nasief Morris (Recreativo Huelva, Spain).

MIDFIELDERS: Lance Davids (Djugardens, Sweden), Kagisho Dikgacoi (Golden Arrows), Teko Modise (Orlando Pirates), Siyabonga Nkosi (Arminia Bielefeld, Germany), MacBeth Sibaya (Rubin Kazan, Russia), Masilo Modubi (KVC Westerlo, Belgium), Siphiwe Tshabalala (Kaizer Chiefs), Lefa Tsutsulupa (Moroka Swallows).

STRIKERS: Thembinkosi Fanteni (Maccabi Haifa, Israel), Katlego Mashego (SuperSport United), Benni McCarthy (Blackburn Rovers, England), Bernard Parker (Thanda Royal Zulu).

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