South Africa coach Joel Santana said on Thursday his side will not be overawed by Germany when the two teams clash in a friendly on Saturday.

"There are underdogs and there are giants, but the beauty of the game of football is that after the match has started anything can happen," said Santana, whose side are ranked 73rd in the world while Germany are fourth ahead of Saturday's friendly in Leverkusen.

"It will be a difficult match, but we are confident."

After finishing fourth in the Confederations Cup last June, Santana says his team are almost ready for the World Cup next year.

"Remember the target is 2010 and the goal is to collect international experience and not only in friendly matches but also in tournaments like the Confederations Cup which we were happy with," said the Brazilian.

"We know we are lacking in experience but we are calm about it - and you can only succeed if you believe."

South Africa captain Aaron Mokoena said his team are taking the match very seriously and are eager for the opportunity to attempt an upset, despite a few injuries.

"We are happy to be in Germany and it's going to be a difficult match for us considering the many injuries we have, but we have players capable of closing the gaps," said the Portsmouth star.

"The Germans are experienced, but I think we have what it takes to face them and we will have to show our mettle."

Since their good performance in the Confederations Cup, South Africa have played just one match when they lost 3-1 to Serbia last month.

"We managed to gain confidence as the tournament went on, now we know that we have a team that can compete and we showed that to the world," said Mokoena.

"Even though the World Cup is very different, we can still improve."