Mashaba was hoping to pit his rapidly improving Bafana Bafana side against the North Africans in a pre-tournament friendly, but that is unlikely to happen now that the sides are drawn against each other in Group C.

Bafana’s other opponents in the group are also likely to pose a stiff challenge – South Africa have never beaten Senegal in five attempts, and while their record against Ghana is a good one, the Black Stars are one of Africa’s strongest sides, and beat South Africa home and away while qualifying for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Full Afcon draw

GROUP A
Equatorial Guinea
Burkina Faso
Gabon
Congo
 

GROUP B
Zambia
Tunisia
Cape Verde
DR Congo

GROUP C
Ghana
Algeria
South Africa
Senegal

GROUP D
Ivory Coast
Mali
Cameroon
Guinea