SOUTH Africa will take a dismal past record against Nigeria's Super Eagles into tonight's Nelson Mandela Challenge clash in Durban.

Bafana Bafana have scored in only one of their previous seven meetings against the west African side, managing a goal every five-and-a-quarter hours of football.

Five of those seven matches have ended in defeats, with a fortunate 0-0 draw and a single victory in the 2004 Nelson Mandela Challenge to show for their efforts.

Bafana were handed a football lesson in their first meeting with Nigeria, which came months after readmission into international football in 1992.

The country was hurriedly added to the qualifying for the 1994 Fifa World Cup in the US, but was not ready for the fierce battle of competitive football on the African continent.

Nigeria won 4-0 in Lagos. SA then escaped with a 0-0 draw in the return match in Johannesburg in January 1993. It was not until the 2000 Africa Cup of Nations semifinals that the teams would meet again and Nigeria had the upper hand once more in Lagos, winning 2-0.

The teams met again in the 2004 Afcon pool stages and it would end in defeat again for Bafana as Nigeria romped to a 4-0 success in Tunisia.

Later that year came some joy at last for Bafana fans as they beat a depleted Nigerian side 2-1 in the 2004 Nelson Mandela Challenge at Ellis Park, with Shaun Bartlett and Benedict Vilakazi getting the goals for the hosts and Ayodele Makinwa replying for the Super Eagles.

Unfortunately, normal service resumed when the teams met in the qualifying for the 2010 World Cup and Afcon. Ike Uche and Obinna Nwaneri scored in a comfortable Super Eagles victory in a steamy Lagos in June 2008, before Uche was again on target in the return fixture in Port Elizabeth as Nigeria won 1-0.