Parker pulled out of Wednesday's training session

South Africa's hopes of beating Brazil in Thursday's Confederations Cup semi-finals have been boosted after Bernard Parker was declared fit to play.

Parker pulled out of Wednesday's training session and was a doubt for the showdown against Brazil.

He will now take his place in the starting line-up as Bafana Bafana and the Brazilians fight for a place in Sunday's final.

The Red Star Belgrade forward made his first mark in the tournament opener when he stopped a team-mate from scoring a winning goal against Iraq by unluckily blocking a shot on the line.

But he followed that by scoring both goals in a 2-0 win over New Zealand and has hit a tournament-high 10 shots on target.

Meanwhile, South Africa's squad got a lift on Wednesday when Nelson Mandela met with the players to wish them luck.

South Africa's first black president, who turns 91 next month, asked for the squad to visit him at the offices of his Johannesburg foundation.

Each player from the 23-man squad for Thursday's match at Ellis Park then went up to a smiling Mandela, who greeted them and shook their hands.

"From the players' point of view, it was one of those special moments," South Africa captain Aaron Mokoena said.

"Meeting the old man was incredible. One thing about the old man is that he always had belief in us, not just in the current squad but in all the Bafana Bafana squads we have had.

"It meant a lot and his presence is unbelievable. The calmness he shows when he approaches people is unbelievable and it's something we have to take into the game tomorrow."

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