After showing some sturdy resistance in their group stage of the African Under-17 Championship, Amajimbos face a litmus test against the Golden Eaglets of Nigeria in the semifinals today.

Nigeria, who finished on top of Group A with seven points, face off against South Africa at the Stade Seyni Kountche in Niamey, Niger. Kickoff is at 5pm.

The winner today will have a date with the winner of tomorrow's other semifinals between Mali and Guinea. The final will be played at the same venue on Sunday night.

While it is set to be a challenging match for Amajimbos, the South Africans are looking forward to facing the Eaglets.

"We are ready to face Nigeria," skipper Nelson Maluleke told Sowetan from their training camp in Niger yesterday.

"We are not going to be intimidated by Nigeria's record against our national teams. We will put a very strong fight against them. I want to thank God, the coach and technical team for taking us this far in this tournament. We are now more than eager to win it."

Khanyisa Mayo said they were fully focused on what promises to be a thrilling contest.

"We will put a brave fight against Nigeria and we are not nervous," Mayo said.

The forward was backed by goalkeeper Mondli Mpoto, who believes he can thwart anything the Eaglets will throw at him.

But then Mpoto will need to be in his acrobatic best to deal with inspirational Nigerian captain Nwakali Kelechi, a joint leading scorer with three goals.

Coach Molefi Ntseki will look to Maluleke for goals after the 16-year-old netted a brace when they dismantled Cameroon 3-1 on Sunday.

That was the win that booked them passage to Chile, South America, where the Fifa Under-17 World Cup finals will be staged in October.

Nigeria, who have also qualified, won the last instalment of the World Cup in 2013 with an impressive 3-0 win over Mexico in the United Arab Emirates.