This follows Bafana Bafana's 2-0 loss to Mali in their opening group E match on Tuesday night.

Although Bafana Bafana started the encounter really well, they couldn't capitalise on the chances they created even a 19th minute penalty that saw forward Percy Tau kick sky his effort over the bar to the stands, much to the disappointment of the South African faithful.

With Namibia and Tunisia next for the 1996 AFCON champions, Da Gama is hopeful that Hugo Broos' charges will bounce from the defeat and claim positive results against Namibia and Tunisia.

Therefore I still believe that we can fix our mistakes and progress to the next round because it is not how you start but rather how you finish, the defeat to Mali should also serve as a wake up call to us and I believe the coach will then sit down and adjust his system heading into the upcoming matches," Da Gama said.

With the AFCON being deemed us one of the biggest tournaments in Africa and the world too, Da Gama has also remembered the heroics Spain and Argentina displayed in the 2010 and 2022 FIFA World Cups.

So there is still hope for Bafana Bafana, I am optimistic and I believe coach Hugo Broos is also optimistic that his team will bounce back because generally as coaches we are optimistic people," Da Gama added.

Kick-off on Sunday evening at the Amadou Gon Coulibaly Stadium is 22:00 pm.