JOHANNESBURG - This year will turn out to be one of the busiest for Bafana Bafana as they will be playing almost every month except May and December.
After no action for three months - since the 2018 Fifa World Cup Russia qualifiers against Senegal at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in November, which Bafana Bafana won 2-1 - the South Africans return to the field at the end of the first quarter of 2017.
First up are two international Fifa dates on March 25 and 28 - home and away respectively - with as yet unnamed opponents.
In April there will be back-to-back CHAN qualifiers between the 20th and the 30th. The next outing will be an away clash to Nigeria in the first match of the CAF Africa Cup of Nations 2019 qualifiers on the weekend of June 9-11, followed by an international friendly fixture a few days later (June 13) with an as yet unnamed country.
July and early August will see the the South Africans continue with CHAN qualifiers and the likelihood of another friendly at the end of August.
September will perhaps be Bafana Bafana’s most hectic period - they resume their World Cup qualifiers with back-to-back clashes against Cape Verde - with the first match away.
This will be followed by another back-to-back encounter in the CHAN qualifiers later in the month, with the last qualifiers scheduled for the beginning of October.
Burkina Faso will be the penultimate World Cup qualifier on Saturday, October 7 in South Africa.
Bafana Bafana will close the year when they travel to Senegal for the final match of the World Cup qualifiers set for the weekend of November 10-11.
The draw for the World Cup will be held in December.