The next few months are surely going to be a football history for South Africa. A mammoth task lies ahead.

Recent years have brought ample disappointments, but Bafana Bafana (nick name for South Africa football team) have also shown, albeit in patches, that - given motivation and purpose - they can be a potent threat. And there can be no greater motivation than representing their country in a FIFA World Cup on home soil.

In 1996, four years after their readmission to international football, South Africa shot to prominence and stunned the African continent by claiming their maiden CAF Africa Cup of Nations trophy against Tunisia at Soccer City in Johannesburg. How ironic that, 16 years later, South Africa will return to the venue where they achieved this first major success, aiming to rewrite the script on an even bigger stage.

Their gallant performance at the FIFA Confederations Cup last June, when they lost narrowly to Brazil in the semi-finals and to Spain in the third place play-off, should certainly serve as a chilling reminder to their detractors that this team, when stretched to its potential, cannot be underestimated. That tournament witnessed several impressive performances strung together by the hosts, and ultimately it was only their inability to convert cleverly-tailored moves into goals that led to their demise.