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Roger Milla

JOHANNESBURG. — When Spain face South Africa in an international soccer friendly match next Tuesday, Andres Iniesta will join a long list of great players who have played against Bafana Bafana since 1992.
At the age of 40, Cameroon striker Roger Milla was the first superstar to play against Bafana in one of the three international matches. Two years later, he became the oldest striker to score at the 1994 Fifa World Cup when he netted against Russia.

After the Cameroon match, the national team came against top African sides such as Rashidi Yekini, Daniel Amokachi, Samson Siasia and Finidi George to mention just a few. And when Argentina took on Bafana during the 1995 Nelson Mandela Challenge, they brought along established stars like Inter Milan’ Javier Zanetti and Roberto Ayala. Youngsters like Juan Pablo Sorin, who went on to captain Albiceleste at the 2006 World Cup, as well as Ariel Ortega and Diego Lopez, were also part of the team. The German side that drew 0-0 with Bafana during the 1995 friendly was dubbed a ‘second string’ outfit, but most of those players were in the team that won Euro 1996 in England six months later.

Between 1996 and 1997, Brazil played Bafana twice, bringing along stars like Bebeto, Romario, Rivaldo, Dunga, Denilson and Aldair. And at the 1998 and 2010 World Cups, the South Africans faced household names such as Zinedine Zidane, Gabriel Batistuta, Paolo Maldini, Thierry Henry, Didier Drogba, Cristiano Ronaldo and Xavi Hernandez.

50 Great players who played v Bafana
Goalkeepers
1. Peter Schmeichel (Denmark)
2. Iker Casillas (Spain)
3. Francesco Toldo (Italian)
4. Bruce Grobbelaar (Zimbabwe)
5. Fabian Barthez (France)
Defenders
6. Samuel Kuffour (Ghana)
7. Lucio (Brazil)
8. Carles Puyol (Spain)
9. Rafael Marquez (Mexico)
10. Giovani van Bronkhorst (Holland)
11. Lilian Thuram (France)
12. Marcel Desailly (France)
13. Paolo Maldini (Italy)
Midfielders
14. Xavi Hernandez (Spain)
15. Javier Zanetti (Argentina)
16. Andreas Moller (Germany)
17. Ramires (Brazil)
18. Kaka (Brazil)
19. Franck Ribery (France)
20. Yaya Toure (Ivory Coast)
21. Paul Gascoigne (England)
22. Clarence Seedorf (Holland)
23. Zinedine Zidane (France)
24. Dunga (Brazil)
25. Didier Deschamps (France)
26. Pavel Nedved (Czech)
27. Michael Essien (Ghana)
28. Seydou Keita (Mali)
29. Michael Ballack (Germany)
30. Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany)
31. Mesut Ozil (Germany)
32. Mohamed Aboutrika (Egypt)
33. Xabi Alonso (Spain)
34. Jay-Jay Okocha (Nigeria)
Forwards
35. Raul (Spain)
36. Gabriel Batistuta (Argentina)
37. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
38. George Weah (Liberia)
39. Roger Milla (Cameroon)
40. Kalusha Bwalya (Zambia)
41. Abedi Pele (Ghana)
42. Tony Yeboah (Ghana)
43. Rivaldo (Brazil)
44. Jurgen Klinsmann (Germany)
45. Bebeto (Brazil)
46. Thierry Henry (France)
47. Romario (Brazil)
48. Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast)
49. Luis Suarez (Uruguay)
50. Nwankwo Kanu (Nigeria)
—Kickoff.com.