There may have been disappointment that just one of the six competing African nations made it through to the Last 16 of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, but there were some outstanding individual performances to enjoy.
allAfrica.com picks its 10 best from the tournament and salutes these fine players who did the continent proud at the global showpiece.
Who are your top 10 African World Cup players? Please tell us and other readers by commenting here. If you haven't commented before, you'll be asked to sign up free to our comment facility, which takes only a minute. All good faith contributions are published.
SIPHIWE TSHABALALA v MEXICO (JUNE 11)
The South African winger got the tournament off to a magnificent start with a thunderous left-footed shot that gave his side the lead over Mexico.
The game would finish 1-1, but Tshabalala's overall contribution at Soccer City was outstanding. He looked a danger whenever he had the ball. Might this one performance have earned him a move to Europe from South African club Kaizer Chiefs? It seems so.
VINCENT ENYEAMA v ARGENTINA (JUNE 12)
Super Eagles goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama put in arguably the performance of the tournament when he largely kept a rampant Argentina at bay in Nigeria's opening match of the tournament at Ellis Park.
The Nigerians lost 1-0, but it could have been much, much worse were it not for the six or seven outstanding saves from the keeper. He had no chance with the goal either as his defenders left Gabriel Heinze unmarked to head home.
YAYA TOURE v PORTUGAL (JUNE 15)
Toure has just completed a 28-million UK pound move from Barcelona to Manchester City in the English Premiership, and his performance in the match against Portugal gave a glimpse as to why City would shell out such an enormous some of money.
The Cote d'Ivoire midfielder is an all-action star, as good going forward as he is on defence, and he helped The Elephants control the midfield in this game. They created the better chances, and perhaps should have won, but the game finished 0-0.
Inexplicably, the public vote for Man of the Match on the day went to Cristiano Ronaldo on the Portugal side, but he was played off the park by Toure.
MADJID BOUGHERRA v ENGLAND (JUNE 18)
It is fair to say that England were desperately disappointing in their 0-0 draw with Algeria in Cape Town, but they were also not given much space to play by a stoic Algerian performance.
Key to that was the showing of defender Madjid Bougherra, who has been simply outstanding for the Desert Foxes since the start of the 2010 Africa cup of Nations in Angola in January. He puts his body on the line, is an excellent organiser and a skillful defender to boot.
KEVIN-PRINCE BOATENG v SERBIA (JUNE 19)
Boateng made just his second appearance for Ghana when they took on Serbia in their World Cup opener and he proved what a great asset he will be to the side over the years to come.
Boateng was all over the field with the kind of box-to-box midfield performance that sometimes goes unnoticed by fans, but are invaluable to their team. He got stuck into tackles, drove his side forward helped Ghana to a famous win.
MACBETH SIBAYA v FRANCE (JUNE 22)
South Africa did not select Macbeth Sibaya for their first two matches, where the Bafana Bafana midfield was largely over-run against Mexico and Uruguay. But when they did bring in the veteran defensive midfielder, he showed them just what they had been missing with a dominant display in the 2-1 victory over France.
True the French were a man down early on, but Sibaya kept the home side on the front foot throughout the game with excellent ball-winning and good distribution.
ANDRE AYEW v GERMANY (JUNE 23)
The son of Abedi Pele has a lot to live up to for Ghana, but he gave hints at this tournament of what a fine player he will be for the Black Stars in the future.
Ghana may have lost their final pool match against Germany at Soccer City, but it was not for a lack of heart from Ayew, who was awesome in launching attacks that really should have led to at least one goal for the Black Stars.
DIDIER DROGBA v NORTH KOREA (JUNE 25)
Drogba played the World Cup with a fractured arm that limited his mobility, but he showed in the final match against North Korea that he is the class African forward of the tournament.
He may not have got on the scoresheet, but he was a constant menace, setting up goals for others and toying with the poor Koreans.
We might never know how the Ivorians might have done with a fully fit Drogba in this tournament, but he at least ensured they went out with a win.
ASAMOAH GYAN v USA (JUNE 26)
Gyan was brilliant for Ghana throughout the tournament, but perhaps his best performance came in the Last 16 tie with the USA.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
He never stopped running all night and showed what an excellent engine he has, while at the same time he took his goal brilliantly to move the Black Stars into an historic quarterfinal place.
Many will remember Gyan for that penalty miss against the Uruguayans, but it would be unfortunate it it sullies what was a brilliant tournament performance from him.
JOHN MENSAH v URUGUAY (JULY 2)
Confusingly perhaps, there were two Jonathan Mensahs playing centreback for Ghana in the World Cup, and while the younger one had a good tournament, the wise old head of John Mensah senior really came to the fore in the penalty shoot-out loss to Uruguay in the Last 16.
Mensah is never fully fit for matches - he just tries to go from game to game - but against the South Americans his qualities as a leader and defender shone through. The night would end in disappointment, but Mensah especially could hold his head high.
We want to hear your picks, and your views on our picks. Comment here (if you haven't commented before, you will be asked to sign up for free). We publish all views which don't contravene our commenting guidelines.
