On Seventh Avenue in Parktown North, Joburg, on Monday, not far from Jan Smuts, a man from the South African Football Association had parked the bus the day after Bafana Bafana had exited the World Cup.Said gent, wearing a yellow Adidas Bafana jersey, cap, tracksuit and running shoes, was alone, standing with his foot on the well of the bus door, looking at his watch and waiting. A sellotaped sign inside the front window read “South African Football Association”. There was no sign of his passengers and he looked resigned to the wait.The bus was parked half on and half off the pavement, partially blocking the way for this pedestrian, fresh from the Virgin Active at Rosebank and on his way to sit at the fire at Pirates on a cold Joburg afternoon. Bafana Bafana’s return was four days hence, in the wee hours of Thursday morning, where a hero’s welcome awaited them at the airport.Is making the knockout round of 32 teams and then getting knocked out heroic? It is if you are South African and you have no idea of how high or low to set the bar of expectations of a team who delight, frustrate and bamboozle themselves and their fans. The low of Mexico became pragmatism against Czechia, then the miracle of Monterrey and the hope of Los Angeles and Canada.As the Manic Street Preachers sang, from despair to where? From anguish to joy to hope? Are being brave heroes the limit we can or even should expect from Bafana? Should we want more? The minister of sports, arts & culture said at the airport on Thursday morning that Hugo Broos had taken them from a “joke” to “where they are now”. Are being brave heroes the limit we can or even should expect from Bafana? Should we want more? Which is where? Broos is in the no man’s land of retirement and an uncertain future, and some of his players are heading the same way. Sadly, over at Safa House, the president of Safa and his merry gang have parked the bus and are going nowhere. There will, inevitably, be talk of a report on the World Cup and plans for the way forward. Unless they allow Broos and Ronwen Williams to be part of that planning, the momentum of Monterrey and the title of “Top Team of Southern Africa Who Reached the Final 32” will be as good as it gets.At the airport the sports minister spoke of VAR for the PSL like a snake oil salesman telling them it is the cure for all that ails them. It’s a part of it, but VAR could also put focus on some of the more glaring officiating and technical deficiencies of South African football, which would be a good thing. After a quiet two weeks when VAR has largely held its counsel and stayed out of the ear of the referee, the TV officials have gone a little bonkers. If, as former England striker and World Cup golden boot winner Gary Lineker said on his The Rest is Football show from New York this week, if of four people in his studio two think it’s a dead cert penalty and the other two don’t, then how can we be sure?We can’t, and that is the beauty of football. Cape Verde, Curacao, and Ecuador over Germany; Morocco knocking out the Netherlands; Brazil squeezed by Japan; Norway edging the Ivory Coast; and Harry Kane’s early push for a knighthood against Democratic Republic of Congo. Early on Thursday morning, Senegal were all but through to the last 16 until they weren’t. Two-nil up with four minutes of normal time remaining, Belgium hit back twice to take it to extra time before a trip to the dreaded pitch-side monitor confirmed a match-winning penalty for the Europeans.Belgium’s manager Rudi Garcia said later he felt Senegal’s collapse was on the cards: “We know these teams; they lose their tactical structure towards the end of the match. We also knew they would do everything to protect their goal at 0-2. I think that was a serious mistake. Remind me not to do that when we’re two goals ahead.”There are times when you should park the bus during the World Cup and times when you shouldn’t. It can be the difference of going from despair to where or where to despair.