For the past 15 years, 11 June has turned into a date of significance for South Africans and, by extension, Africans, after the country delivered a FIFA World Cup that received a 9/10 rating from Sepp Blatter.
Yet, it seems like a lifetime ago when host nation South Africa and Mexico had their charges lined up to sing the national anthems, with Soccer City a sea of yellow as an expectant nation turned up in numbers to fill the stands.
READ: Bafana's status four years on under Broos…
Sport pubs, pavements, parks and all sorts of venues across the country were filled to the brim with jubilant crowds eager to share in the historic moment, for this was the first time the global showpiece had been brought to the continent's doorstep.
When the most important game in the lives of the likes of Itumeleng Khune, Bongani Khumalo, Teko Modise, and Siphiwe Tshabalala got underway, against the Latin American nation at 16:00, the emotional rollercoaster had truly kicked in. Fear, hope, ambition, anxiety were all written in the eyes of the locals.
Until that moment!
With the scores level at 0-0 at half-time, the game had taken on a purposeful turn by the second half. Both sides stepped it up a gear in search of a crucial opening goal in a group that also included Uruguay and France.
Almost 10 minutes into the second stanza, Reneilwe Letsholonyane picked up a loose ball near the centre-line with his back to goal, fed it to on-facing Kagisho Dikgacoi, who interchanged passes with Katlego Mphela before laying off a million-dollar pass to Tshabalala, the winger racing away at a speed even the Michael Schumachers of this world would have been envious of.
And, soon as his educated left foot kissed the ball, the top left corner opened up as if to hug it, and next thing the world knew, the opening goal of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the biggest sporting event on Earth, had just been scored!
Unbridled jubilation...
Maybe, just maybe, this was the Sign Of A Victory for Carlos Alberto Parreira's men as per R Kelly’s song that served as the anthem for that edition of the soccer spectacle.
READ: Bafana squad racial issue resurfaces in parliament
However, a strong Mexican side dampened the mood somewhat, catching the Bafana defence with their pants down to equalise via Rafael Marquez with 11 minutes remaining.
Nevertheless - or okusalayo as local dialect dictates - history had been made that day, and perhaps rightly so, any South African alive and old enough at the time who missed out on the occasion would have been dismissed as a complete waste of oxygen.
Photo: Eric Verhoeven/Soccrates/Getty Images
Share your memories in the comments section below! Where were you on 11 June 2010?