( L - R ) Jamaica's Demar Phillips, South Africa's McCarthy, Jamaica's Jermaine Johnson

BLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa:

WHILE they are under no significant burden to achieve, the Reggae Boyz have no plans to surrender to the desires of a South Africa senior team desperate for a victory to lift its self-belief and that of its citizens - that they will be among the title contenders when they host the World Cup Finals next year - as both countries clash in a friendly international at Free State Stadium today at 8:30 p.m. (1:30 p.m. Jamaica time).

Counting Saturday's goalless draw against Japan in Port Elizabeth, the South Africans have lost eight of their last 10 games.

There is great anxiety among the people here ahead of next year's quadrennial spectacle.

Santana axed

They recently axed coach Joel Santana and recalled Brazilian Carlos Alberto Parreira. They have been chopping and changing players at will and have rotated at least four goalkeepers in recent times. The one who distinguished himself at the Confederations Cup, Itumeleng Khune, is injured. Also, they have chronic scoring problems and just recalled the nation's all-time scoring leader, Benni McCarthy, who is attached to English Premier League Club Blackburn Rovers.

Guess what? They are running into a Jamaica team they are yet to beat in three confrontations, which has absolutely no care for their problems.

"We can't concentrate on their crisis, we're going through our crisis as well," said Jamaica's head coach Theodore Whitmore, following their game-time training session in very chilly conditions at the Free State Stadium last night.

"We never qualified for the World Cup and we did badly in the Gold Cup, so we're on our bad patch too. So we want to take this game as an opportunity to restore some pride and keep Jamaica's football alive," added Whitmore.

As they have done in practice sessions in the past, the Jamaicans worked feverishly and competitively at high pace with several rotations, as coaches Whitmore and Bradley Stewart, his assistant, sought to gel the right combination for what is expected to be a tough fixture, given the World Cup hosts' plight.

A day before, he had concerns about injuries to the goalkeepers, but neither Shawn Sawyers nor Dwayne Miller shows any signs of ill effects in last night's fine-tuning.

No complaints

"The doctor and masseur worked on them and there's no complaint, so that's good for us," the Jamaica head coach added of his net minders.

Miller will start, with Shavar Thomas sweeping behind Dicoy Williams and Jermaine Taylor, Jamal Campbell-Ryce and Demar Phillips holding the defensive flanks and Rodolph Austin and Jason Morrison the central pairing. Pacy and skilful Jermaine Johnson and Dane Richards, along with Devon Hodges in the head, will form the attacking triumvirate.

The Jamaicans are ranked 69th, 16 places above South Africa and they will be looking to maintain that disparity.

"We're ranked 65th in the world and they're ranked 85th. We want to keep that going, so if in tomorrow's game we can add a little more on them, it'd be good for us," noted Whitmore.

On Saturday, Japan played a high-press game and suffocated South Africa, which found it hard to maintain possession and build fluently.

The Jamaican team also possesses a lot of pace but Parreira expects his team to perform better.

"The Jamaican team and Japanese team are completely different in style so ... it's going to be different for us," Parreira analysed. "We may have more freedom to play but also the Jamaicans are more comfortable with the ball. They are big guys, the Japanese are small and quick so we have to adjust to these conditions."

Lack of form

Parreira persisted with McCarthy despite his obvious lack of form and it would not be surprising if he plays the full game this time due to his match-winning qualities and the impact he could make for the team at the World Cup.

His strike partner, Katlego Mphela, is their most dangerous player now. He has scored all Bafana Bafana's four goals in their 10-match unbeaten run. Additionally, he has scored 11 times in club football here this season.

In three confrontations, the teams have ended level - 1-1 in Kingston in 1999; 0-0 in Cape Town in 2003; and 3-3 at the Los Angeles Coliseum at the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2005, when the South Africans were invited as a guest team.