Shu-Aib’s long and winding road
FOOTBALL has come full circle for Shu-Aib Walters. It’s been a real long and winding career for the Cape Town City goalkeeper – but he’s now on the cusp of making all the sacrifice over the years worthwhile.
City face SuperSport United in the final of the Telkom Knockout at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane on Saturday (6pm kickoff) – and Walters can be forgiven if he betrays just a hint of irony as he runs on to the field.
A born and bred Capetonian, Walters had to quit the Mother City to seek his football fortune. After spells with Clyde Pinelands in the Second Division, Vasco da Gama in the NFD, the goalkeeper got his PSL break at Bloemfontein Celtic in 2006.
He subsequently went on to play for Maritzburg United and Mpumalanga Black Aces, which is where he was when John Comitis bought that club’s top-flight franchise and relocated it to the Cape. And so, at the age of 34, Walters got his first opportunity to turn out for a PSL club in his home town.
But he’s certainly not bitter about it. In fact, he’s realistic about the demands of modern sport.
“Yes, this is my first time playing for a Cape club in the top-flight, but, like so many others, when I left in 2006, I realised that I had to leave the city to make a career,” said Walters.
“At that time, there was only Ajax and Santos in the PSL, and there is such an abundance of talent in the Cape that it’s difficult to sometimes get in. So I moved on, and it worked for me… In fact, if you look at other sports, like rugby and cricket, you will also see Cape players moving to other provinces to further their careers – it’s just the nature of things.”
Walters has been a mainstay for City in their remarkable start to the season. In addition to Saturday’s final against SuperSport, the Cape side is also sitting pretty at the summit of the PSL standings.
While City’s star attackers Lebogang Manyama and Aubrey Ngoma have hogged the spotlight, everyone involved with the club will tell that it has been the wonderful team ethic which has acted as the spur to success. Throughout, Walters has been a solid, reliable and professional presence in goal.
“This is obviously a big occasion for us,” said Walters. “As a new club, it’s an opportunity to make history. As a team, we are really looking forward to the game. We’ve been playing some good football of late and now we are in a Cup final. It should be a good game…”
City are on an impressive nine-game unbeaten run (eight wins and a draw) – and, as a squad, so many players have contributed to what the team has achieved. Head coach Eric Tinkler hasn’t been afraid to rotate the squad and, whoever has come in, has done whatever was asked of him.
The City squad has such depth and quality that Tinkler is able to adopt a horses for courses policy: He assesses and analyses the opposition and then picks his team accordingly. Against SuperSport, no doubt, City have a difficult task, which makes Tinkler’s team selection key.
“SuperSport have a very strong squad,” said Walters. “If you look at the quality, each and every player could probably start in any other PSL team … They have experience, they have quality and now they have a good coach in Stuart Baxter as well. He has transformed them from being just good individuals into performing as a team.”
Now all that’s left is for City to bring the trophy home. And the financial incentive is not to be sneezed at either. The eventual winners take home R4.25-million, while the runners-up pocket R1.75-million. City have already confirmed that the players will pocket half of the loot.
“There’s a lot to play for,” said Walters. “In addition to the money, there’s also a winners’ medal at stake, as well as an opportunity to bring honour to the club, the city and the province as a whole. As Ajax did last year, when they won the MTN8, we have a chance to do the same, and make the city proud.”