South Africa have arranged a friendly against Tanzania on 14 May to prepare for the crucial African Cup of Nations qualifier against Egypt.

The match will be held in Tanzania capital Dar es Salaam as the Bafana Bafana gear up for the Egypt encounter, which is scheduled to take place in Cairo in the first week of June.

“It goes without saying that if we win that game, we will be in a very good position to qualify for the 2012 Nations Cup in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon,” South Africa coach Pitso Mosimane told SuperSport.

"So this Tanzania game is crucial for us in our preparation for that clash and we will take our strongest possible squad for the match."

Egypt, who are yet to arrange any friendlies, have no option but to beat South Africa to keep alive their chances of reaching next year’s Nations Cup finals.

The Pharaohs, the record winners of the tournament with seven titles under their belt, made a disastrous start to their qualifying campaign, collecting just one point from their first three games.

South Africa top Group D with seven points and they will edge closer to reaching the Nations Cup if they avoid defeat against Egypt. Their last meeting ended in a 1-0 victory for South Africa in March.

The winners of the 11 groups and the best two runners-up will qualify for the biennial tournament.