Shakes Mashaba's critics are sharpening their knives after Bafana Bafana's disappointing first-round exit from the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea.
After all, the nation had high hopes after Mashaba's boys qualified on merit for the tournament for the first time since the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations in Ghana (we qualified by default as hosts in 2013, only to be eliminated by Nigeria in the quarterfinals, but that's another matter).
Moreover, this time around Bafana had qualified emphatically for Africa's premier soccer showcase - topping their group by going six games without defeat. The boys were obviously loving their soccer and playing their hearts out for their ''father figure'' coach.
For millions of soccer fanatics this was proof that the team that won the tournament as hosts in 1996 was back on the path to greatness.
The fact that we found ourselves in a veritable ''group of death'', having to face off against giant-slayers Ghana as well as Senegal and Algeria did not do much to temper sky-high expectations.
As the fans' confidence grew - fed by Bafana's slick passing game - so did the belief that we would easily waltz past our fancied opponents into the quarterfinals, and then, who knows. After all, the optimists reasoned, Ghana's Black Stars were not the team they were in 2010 when they became the third African side to qualify for the quarterfinals of the World Cup.
How wrong we were. After being outgunned by Algeria and held to a draw by Senegal, Bafana were thoroughly outclassed by Ghana, despite making a promising start.
And yet, if anything, the performance of our young team is cause for true optimism, for keeping the coach, the players and their captain.
The Black Stars are where they are today because of their exposure to the cauldron of African football. We can follow suit by building for Afcon 2017, and the 2018 World Cup.
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