England's South Africa date

England have only played South Africa once before

England are to play a friendly away to South Africa next year, the Football Association has confirmed.

The FA has given an undertaking that the friendly will be played by May or June 2003.

  England's 2002 friendies

13 February: England play Holland in Amsterdam

27 March: Elland Road host's England's game with Italy

17 April: England meet Paraguay at Anfield

21 May: England begin their acclimatisation to the Far East with a match against one of the World Cup hosts South Korea

25 May: England's final warm-up game sees them play Cameroon

Given the travel demands involved in the trip, the visit is likely to be organised at the end of the domestic season in 2003.

Next month England are due to go to Istanbul to organise their qualifying schedule for the Euro 2004 finals.

Once those dates have been arranged, the FA will turn their attention to fixing up other friendlies, with Romania as another possible opponent.

The FA is also understood to want to face one of the former Yugoslav countries - Croatia, Bosnia Slovenia - or even Yugoslavia.

Those games would serve as preparation for England's matches against Macedonia in their Euro 2004 qualifying campaign.

England have only met South Africa once before, in a friendly at Old Trafford in May 1997.

Jamie Redknapp and Paul Gascoigne suffered bad injuries in the 2-1 win, with Ian Wrigth and Rob Lee scoring the goals.

The two countries, who competed to host the 2006 World Cup in a race that was eventually won by Germany, have been looking to make the most of their improved relations.