In a week of sadness that was, as the country and the world mourned the passing of former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela, the U20 side had their own special way of bidding a farewell to the old man.
The young South Africans won the Cosafa U20 Youth Championship, thanks to a 2-0 victory over Kenya in the final in Lesotho on Saturday.
Coach Shakes Mashaba and his group of talented young boys gave the country hope that South Africa can still do well at international level.
Football fans in this country have been disappointed a number of times, enough for someone to think about choosing another sport to follow.
Thanks Mr Mashaba and the boys for a job well done.
The onus is on the other national teams to learn from the success of these young boys for the benefit of football in the country.
Like Mashaba said after his side won the Cosafa Cup, it should be a norm for our national teams to reach finals of competitions, and to win the trophies.
It might be unusual to ask elders to learn from young boys, but for the sake of the country's image of football, if the U20s are the ones winning trophies then why not learn from them?
Mashaba has reminded us of the time when he was the coach of the of the U23 side that qualified for the Sydney Olympic games in 2000.
I am confident that the current group of the U20 players we have can go a long way in their careers if Mashaba can be supported fully, and be given more competitive games to give the boys enough game time at international level.
In his 18-man squad that travelled to Australia for the tournament in 2000, Mashaba had nine players that he previously coached at U20 level.
That's continuity!
Matthew Booth, Stanton Fredericks, David Kannemeyer, Nkhipitheni Matombo, Benni McCarthy, Daniel Matsau, Patrick Mbuthu, Abram Nteo and Steve Lekoelea all made the transition from the U20s to the U23s.
Some of the players went on to play for the senior side as well, and did well.
To Ayabulela Magqwaka and the rest of the boys, you can also make it.
Thank you for a job well done.
We are proud of you and we have no doubt that you can go all the way and make South Africa proud.
Well done Majita!
It's all in the name of the beautiful game.
Masebe Qina
Follow Masebe on Twitter: @MasebeQina
