OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Friday 5.00pm.
LAST is a word that will probably feature prominently in the thoughts of national soccer coach Trott Moloto as he prepares Bafana Bafana to face Sweden in the Nelson Mandela Inauguration Challenge on Saturday.
It will be the last chance this century for South Africa to end a five-year jinx and defeat a European nation, and it will be the last warm-up match before the 2000 African Nations Cup in Ghana and Nigeria.
Bafana Bafana first made contact with the most powerful soccer continent in December 1995 when three-time world champions Germany were lucky to escape with a 0-0 draw from Johannesburg Stadium.
Draws with Denmark (twice), the Czech Republic and Iceland and losses to France (twice), England, Germany and Holland followed, so Sweden represents a last chance of success before the dawn of the new millennium.
Can Moloto succeed where Clive Barker and Philippe Troussier failed? Well, this humble member of the Muchineripi clan believes he may not have a better chance of doing so for a long time to come.
While wishing no disrespect to the Swedish squad that flew into town on Tuesday, it is essentially a B team, containing only three of the players who beat Poland 2-0 last month in their final European championship qualifier.
There is plenty at stake as Sweden qualified for Euro 2000 with an impressive record of seven wins and one draw and coach Tommy Sodeberg will see the Bafana Bafana match as a test of his reserve strength.
Moloto has said the squad could form the nucleus of his Nations Cup travelling party so there could be no greater incentive for a top-class performance at the home of the Blue Bulls rugby team.
This is co-operation week between the countries, after all, so why not a Bafana Bafana victory?