Bafana Bafana came crashing back down to earth after shooting blanks in a goalless draw in the Seychelles on Monday.
After beating the same opposition 6-0 at the weekend, Bafana were back to their frustrating selves at the Stade Linite in their Afcon 2019 qualifying campaign.
A win yesterday would have left them one point from qualification.
And they will now have to take the more difficult route to the Cameroon finals with matches against Nigeria and Libya in Group E.
Coach Stuart Baxter made one change from the Soccer City rout, bringing in striker Dino Ndlovu for winger Aubrey Modiba.
But that gamble narrowed Bafana’s game and the quality of the deliveries from out wide, as they struggled to find their touch on the artificial pitch.
As a result, SA created very little in the first half and failed to test the Seychelles new goalkeeper.
In the second half, it was a different story.
With the first attack after the break, Lebo Mothiba hit the crossbar from less than six yards out.
It was a shocking miss and that hurt the 22-year-old’s confidence as he followed that up with another weak effort seconds later.
Percy Tau had the ball in the back of the net in the 55th minute, but his goal was chalked off for offside.
Substitute Modiba came on in the second half, but when his moment came in the 69th minute, he skewed his shot wide from 10 yards.