Radebe - in the squad to face Scotland. (Allsport)

By Jon West, PA Sport

Click here for more South Africa news
Click here for more World Cup news

Lucas Radebe's World Cup dream is still alive despite having missed a year of first team football.

Injury has robbed Leeds of the influential centre-back and, other than reserve outings, he has clocked up only 45 minutes of high profile action and that was only in a testimonial for Gary Kelly earlier in the month.

But Radebe is in the South Africa squad to play Scotland in a Hong Kong friendly on Monday and the Bafana Bafana are keen to take him to Japan and Korea, where they have been placed in the same group as Spain, Slovenia and Paraguay.

Manager Stanley Tshabalala said: "The Leeds doctors have phoned our doctor and have faxed us his injury history.

"They tell us he is on the mend. He doesn't need to be rushed into things but after two or three weeks, and this is the second week, you can see an improvement.

"He is really getting stuck in, unlike when he started when he was struggling. Now he is the Lucas that we know.

"We are talking one year out. Of course, he is a big-name player and most of the players respect him because of his leadership qualities and the way he plays.

"He is a leader and brought some confidence into the team as soon as he started training."

Torrential rain had hampered both team's preparations for the game, which kicks off a Reunification Cup tournament which also features Turkey and a Hong Kong League XI.

But Tshabalala was confident the game would go ahead. He said: "We have now trained twice.

"We thought the weather here would be sunny but a few players are playing in Europe so they are used to the conditions.

"This is good for us. If it is going to be like this in the World Cup then the guys will be well prepared.

"We hope the game will be played because we definitely want it to go on."

South Africa coach Jomo Sono wants to try out a number of younger players and so will use all six substitutes.

Tshabalala was also aware Scotland were entering a rebuilding phase under Berti Vogts.

He said: "Scotland have always been a useful footballing country but for now they are in the rebuilding process.

"Obviously places are up for grabs and youngsters want to impress the coach. It is the same for us here.

"The coach has his team here but there are positions up for grabs - wide right and striking positions because the only striker we have after Shaun Bartlett was injured is Benni McCarthy."