As one of the smaller countries on the continent, Botswana have struggled for recognition as much as they have struggled for results. They have never qualified for a World Cup and only won their first match in qualifying when they beat Lesotho 4-1 in the lead up to Germany 2006, 11 years after they first attempted to make it through to the tournament.
Their continental history is also not decorated with anything too flashy. They only qualified for the African Nations' Cup (ANC) recently - in 2012 - and it was their success that finally put Botswana on the footballing map. On March 26, 2011 the once scoffed-at Zebras became the first team to qualify for the tournament, capping off a journey that included surprise wins over Chad and Tunisia.
A particularly rousing article in a local paper claimed that the 2010 Football World Cup in neighbouring South Africa was the reason for Botswana's incredible rise. The tournament did not, as may be suggested by the link, result in spill-over benefits for Botswana. While teams such as Brazil chose to play in Zimbabwe and Portugal had a friendly against Mozambique, Botswana were completely snubbed and that feeling of rejection and, according to the article, "desire to prove their worth", spurred them on.
Realistically, though, while emotions may have played some role in Botswana's qualification, it was the development work taking fruit that probably had the bigger say. In March 2005, a US$400,000 centre called the Lekidi Football Centre opened with the aim of training players for the future.
Botswana's structures have been in place since before 1980. In that year, Ben Kofie - a Ghanian football expert - was brought in to establish junior structures in the country. He stayed for 22 years and when he left in 2002, Botswana were equipped enough to begin their own youth programmes. Another foreigner, Serbia's Veselin Jelusic, who was national team coach, moved into development under him as Botswana launched an under-12 league, as well as under-15 and under-17 teams.
Corporate sponsorship began to come in at around the same time. Two beverage companies injected funds into the game and a mobile phone operator aligned itself with the league. Although many of Botswana's players look to play in South Africa, they also now have the opportunity to play at home because they will be guaranteed decent income.
With a seemingly financially sound model and a good few weeks spent at South Africa's High Performance Centre - a facility described by many as one of the best in the world to train at - Botswana went into the 2012 ANC with an upset expected of them, but they managed none. Disappointingly, they finished last in their group -which was a fairly tough one and included defending champions Ghana. They also suffered a hefty 6-1 loss to Guinea which illustrated the gap between Botswana and some of the other teams in the competition.
The aftermath of that tournament rocked Botswana football. In its immediate shadow, Botswana's most celebrated player, Diphetogo "Dipsy" Selolwane, retired from international football. He said he made the decision to concentrate on the club game before that and so pulled the curtain down on a career that started when he was 16 years old and included 16 goals for Botswana, making him their record goal scorer.
He was also the only local player to have played in Europe after a brief spell in Denmark. Selolwane said he would take up a development role in the country: "I have played football at all national team levels and I feel I have served my country well," he said. "It is time to focus on my club since I have only a few years left in the game."
Later that month, though, five other players also announced their retirement amid claims that they hadn't been paid their promised bonuses after the Nations' Cup. Mogogi Gabonamong, goalkeeper Modiri Marumo, Patrick Motsepe and the centre pairing of Pontsho Moloi and Tshepo Motlhabankwe all said they would not be available for Botswana in future.
Their coach Stanley Tshoshane had to call off a February 29 friendly against Egypt because, in his own words, there was "no national team" to field. He spoke about the need for a rebuilding process. They did manage to put a team together for a friendly against Lesotho in May and rolled back the years to beat them 3-0.
Their ability to compete properly in their 2014 World Cup qualification still seemed in danger, though, and in June, with an understrength side, Botswana lost 2-0 to the Central African Republic. By July, the five players - minus Selolwane - apologised and returned to the fold. They held South Africa to a 1-1 draw in Gabarone in a remarkable show of team unity.
Still, Botswana have failed to qualify for the 2013 Nations' Cup. They lost both matches in their two-legged tie against Mali and sit at the bottom of the World Cup qualifying group, but will continue to look to the future with 2012 as their inspiration.