A mixed bag of emotions is what a squad announcement always elicits.
Yays. Nays. Maybes. Absolute nadas.
There's never universal agreement.
That's understandable. As a people, we are not homogeneous in our thinking.
The reaction to the squad Bafana Bafana coach Stuart Baxter named on Tuesday was no exception.
The coach had promised he would pick a team pregnant with youth with his eye on the future. It is nothing we've not heard before.
Yes to the injection of youth. Yes to giving them a crack at international level.
Did Stuart Baxter stay true to his word of yearning for youth?
Nine yays Teboho Mokoena, 20, Reeve Frosler, 20, Siphesihle Ndlovu, 21, Phakamani Mahlambi, 21, Ryan Moon, 21, Aubrey Modiba 22, Lebo Mothiba, 22, Percy Tau, 23, and Motjeka Madisha, 23.Mokoena and his SuperSport United teammate Modiba are on an impressive upward trajectory.
The duo more than proved their potential with an immense contribution during United's Confederation of African Football Confed Cup campaign.
The younger ones are much stronger, wiser and have thicker skins thanks to the trials and tribulations from their travels on the continent, a tournament they lost in the final to TP Mazembe.
Their crosstown brothers of Madisha and Tau of Mamelodi Sundowns boast credible continental credentials of their own. Theirs culminated in victory in the Caf Champions League two years ago with the Fifa Club World Cup as the icing on the international experience cake.
Mahlambi is gaining invaluable experience with Al Ahly in the Egyptian Premier League. It is exciting times for the younglings. My excitement was as short -lived as Manchester United's derby high which was rudely wiped away by Sevilla, who eliminated them from the Uefa Champions League.
Shortlived because in keeping with casting an eye on the promising stars of the future of South African football, Baxter could have gone a bit further. Few can argue against having a place in a Bafana midfield for one Thabo Cele.
If Dean Furman is a workhorse in the heart of defence, the boy from KwaMashu is a midfield Rolls-Royce.
His passing, short or long-range, is boss, his awareness absolutely awesome, his reading of the game ridiculously remarkable and positional sense perfectly plausible. The same can be said of Luther Singh. This is not a question of singing the praises of the 20-year-old. The boy is horsepower on steroids, blessed with a powerful shot in both feet and forceful running which leaves little room for defenders to rest...