Hugo Broos has needed just a single chance in reviving Bafana Bafana's fortunes on the continent as he keeps proving that the experience of having previously won this tournament must never be underestimated.
On Tuesday night, Bafana staged the biggest upset of the tournament in Cote d'Ivoire as Bafana downed top ranked Morocco to silence the criticism brigade whose opinions of Broos have always been negative.
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This now means the 34th edition of the AFCON finals has had more shock results than ever before with none of the five top ranked countries on the continent through to the quarter-finals.
Morocco has now joined Senegal, Tunisia, Algeria, and Egypt on their way out as the top five with seven of the top 10 no longer in the tournament after Cameroon and Burkina Faso were also knocked out.
Nigeria, Cote d'Ivoire, and Mali are the surviving top 10 nations on the continent in the last eight at the tournament, but the number could drop to one as the host nation meets Les Aigles in one of the clashes for the next round.
Most important for South Africa is that Broos has already restored the dignity of Bafana and deserves to be shown more respect than he has ever been shown in the job.
After taking over Bafana in May 2021 while they were in ICU after having failed to merely qualify for the AFCON finals under Molefi Ntseki, the Belgian has delivered on his promise of qualification to this tournament that he won with Cameroon seven years ago.
Reaching this stage of the competition is already an achievement for Bafana because this has been the furthest that they have gone in 22 years at this tournament.
Since finishing third in 2000 under Trott Moloto, Bafana have never gone past the quarter-final hurdle, coming stuck at that stage in 2002 (Carlos Queiroz), 2013 (Gordon Igesund), and 2019 (Stuart Baxter).
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Cape Verde will be the opposition in the last eight as the 71-year-old seeks to do wonders with Bafana.
Past Cape Verde in Yamoussoukro on Saturday, either Nigeria or Angola will be awaiting in the semi-finals.
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