South Africa's steady decline in continental competition has been well-documented but they would have felt they should have made it out of their Group D at the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations.
Carlos Alberto Parreira's side outplayed Angola for much of their opener, but in the end needed a late screamer from Elrio van Heerden to secure a point. They missed a hatful of chances against Palancas Negras which, had they taken, would have seen them through to a comfortable victory.
Their next match against Tunisia was nothing short of a disaster as some comical defending saw them concede three soft goals, with Katlego Mphela scoring a late consolation.
They managed to put that performance behind them though as they completely outplayed a physical Senegal side, but could manage just a 1-1 draw as the comedy this time was in front of goal, where they again missed more than enough chances to win the game.
Van Heerden, by far the best player for Bafana in the competition, scored his second of the tournament, but Parreira's side finished bottom of their first round group for the second time in successive competitions.
Angola
Benin
Cameroon
Cote d'Ivoire
Egypt
Ghana
Guinea
Mali
Morocco
Namibia
Nigeria
Senegal
South Africa
Sudan
Tunisia
Zambia
South Africa
Angola
Tunisia
Senegal
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