Peter Shalulile
How the Mamelodi Sundowns forward romped to the KICK OFF Footballer of the Season award.
TThe readers have spoken… Mamelodi Sundowns forward Peter Shalulile is this season’s KICK OFF Footballer of the Season. From making a move that was greeted with raised eye-brows at the beginning of the season, despite having been the joint league top-scorer in the previous campaign, Shalulile has turned the tables on his critics. KICK OFF’s Lovemore Moyo looks at how the Namibian beat the odds.
he morning after Peter Shalulile was named the PSL Footballer of the Season and DStv Premiership Players’ Player of the Season, he sent his mentor Ronnie Kanalelo a touching message.
“Big boss. God’s work is awesome. Amazing. Your continuous support, encouragement and guidance has moulded me into a player I never imagined I could be. I genuinely appreciate you. Thank you. God bless,” read the text.
Reading the message, Kanalelo came close to tears thinking about how the boy he first met as a teenager had now grown to become the best in the PSL in his first season at Mamelodi Sundowns.
Sundowns is the only club that the retired Kanalelo also played for through his time in South Africa, so the connection runs deep when mention of the Chloorkop club is made.
“I thought of the days when I first saw him back in 2010 when he was just 16,” recalls Kanelelo. “He was a young boy who loved football, who already saw football as a career. The boy was and is still a real professional.
“If you have followed him over the years, nothing has changed with how he does his job on the field. It is not only now at Sundowns that he is doing this. Even from as far as his first season at Highlands Park in 2015, he has always been consistent with his work rate.
“Other aspects of his game have obviously developed along the way because he is now in a higher environment compared to where he was in Namibia in terms of the levels of the leagues.
“When he gets onto that pitch, he works for everybody from start to finish. So, that part of his game is nothing new. His consistency in applying himself is what has led to him getting to where he is now, winning all these accolades. So, that work rate quality should never be underestimated in football,” he notes.
Yet for all the bliss that has greeted Shalulile’s debut season with his trademark ‘springbok’ celebration, Kanalelo acknowledges the reservations that he had about this move.
“When he joined, I was sceptical that he would succeed at Sundowns and get gametime on a regular basis because Sundowns always have quality players,” admits Kanalelo.
“WHEN HE GETS ONTO THAT PITCH, HE WORKS FOR EVERYBODY FROM START TO FINISH.”
“I was worried that when there are too many quality players and there is rotation, it might derail his progress. But halfway through the season he proved me wrong in my scepticism. The Sundowns technical team recognised that ‘this is our guy’, especially him being someone who plays for the team,” he says.
Hitting the ground running
It was only befitting that Shalulile took the awards that matter the most. He reached 22 goals across all competitions – the first time that he has done so in his career – and had an encouraging assists count of eight, demonstrating just how his all-round game has improved.
The importance factor he provided at Sundowns can never be argued or undervalued.
“I saw this coming because if you look at his previous two seasons it didn’t take a rocket scientist to tell you that Shalulile would explode,” points out his former national team coach Ricardo Mannetti.
“It was just a matter of time because he was the top scorer the previous year and was also a First Division top scorer before. Peter excelled in harsher conditions in the First Division and then did the same with a mid-table team in the PSL.
“It was coming, and the only doubt was on whether the style of Sundowns would suit him. I believed it would because I imagined that Pitso [Mosimane] saw something different in him. There is no other top striker in the PSL like Peter.
“Sundowns needed variety in their front play. Peter has matured through the years and I have a problem with people putting this hard-working tag on him because just like coaches grow, players grow too.
“He has shown us this past season that he is not just all about work-rate because Sundowns don’t play on the counter for him to be doing a lot of running.
“Sundowns play a slower game which is why he had one of the highest assists in the team and that tells you that his all-round game has improved, and we can no longer refer to him as the guy that can run the whole day.
“He is not perfect, but his all-round game has improved because he now has assists, helps in defending, presence in the air, he has scored most of his goals in the box instead of running into the box like in previous years.
“He has become a poacher with his positioning having improved,” says Mannetti adding that Sundowns have been the beneficiaries in having Shalulile.
“Peter has never been a prima donna who would let fame get to his head. The difference is in the personality. Peter was more of a blessing to Sundowns than Sundowns was to him. We cannot call him the hard running Namibian striker anymore but rather the best striker in the country. He came to Sundowns with pedigree. Those that didn’t see Peter coming were sleeping because he was on the rise all along. If you think Peter, just came to prominence at Sundowns then you were not watching football because this was all coming. I’m not surprised he has come good at Sundowns,” adds the former Santos midfielder.
Missing out on top goalscorer award
In going about his duties at Sundowns, Namibia has stood up and taken notice of Shalulile’s quality.
Though he missed out on becoming the first player to retain the Lesley Manyathela Golden Boot, in the land of the Brave Warriors they celebrated every goal he scored, with former KICK OFF Footballer of the Season Mohammed Ouseb taking note.
“It is never easy being in that space, so Peter deserves all the praise for his remarkable achievements. Being in foreign lands, it is just not an easy ride, but then knowing him as a dedicated player who is disciplined and hardworking, I knew that he would do well with the kind of talent around him at Sundowns.
“It was sad to see him miss out on the top goal scorer award but I am happy that he has shown that he is a team player too, that is something that he must be applauded for and this should be a good lesson for upcoming players that want to succeed both in football and life in general, that hard work
“IF YOU LOOK AT HIS PREVIOUS TWO SEASONS IT DIDN’T TAKE A ROCKET SCIENTIST TO TELL YOU THAT SHALULILE WOULD EXPLODE.”
and discipline pays,” says Ouseb, who was a hit at Kaizer Chiefs when playing with his fellow countryman Robert Nauseb.
Nauseb could only just admire Shalulile’s season.
“You could see he was playing to achieve something, and it happened. He wanted to win the league and it happened, and was also chasing the top scorer which he missed out on. All the same this was a great achievement because this is not an ordinary Sundowns team that signs every Tom, Dick and Harry,” says Nauseb.
‘He hasn’t changed a bit’
Further impressive about
Shalulile is that he is always a striker who is difficult to substitute. The proof is in his numbers, as he did not start once from the bench and increasingly became hard to replace as the season moved on.
His national teammate Maximillian Mbaeva of Lamontville Golden Arrows wasn’t surprised with what was happening as he had seen it all from the days when Shalulile played at Tura Magic in Namibia.
“The same workaholic attitude that he carried back then is still the same up to now. He is an incredibly hard-working human being. He would run so much in game you would be all stunned about how he is able to do it this way.
“He hasn’t changed a bit up to now because what he is doing is the same that he was always doing back then. The plus is that he is playing in an environment with all the resources that he needs and is surrounded by quality.
“Peter is also a people’s person who will talk to you even if he doesn’t know you.
There is no way that you will hate him because he is a guy that just keeps putting in the effort and focus all the job.
“The way he trains is such that even on his off days you will find him hard at training because he wants to stay ahead of everyone. His attitude towards football is the best that you can ever find in the game. You can never even one day think of him as being a lazy player,” says Mbaeva.
That Shalulile has always had the hunger is without any doubt. He never complained even when he had to play left-back in Namibia, where he is also slowly building up legend status.
“How do you not miss a guy who is this committed,” asks Rudolf Bester, who played with Shalulile in the national team.
“I already knew there was something special about him from all those years ago already. Not skill, but purpose in this game because he was always happy to put in the work without complaining a bit or showing any moods whatsoever.
“Now he is reaping the rewards. For someone his height, he is way too good in the air and proof is in the goals that he scores with his head being marked by people who are taller than him.
“The difference between Shalulile and other strikers is that he will chase for anything, including what already looks dead, and will still not hesitate to run into the spaces. If he doesn’t get the ball, he is always patient enough to wait for that moment.
“He uses his energy very well across the frontline and is complemented well by all the players at Sundowns, like [Gaston] Sirino and [ Themba] Zwane. He is proof of that football repays those who work hard.
“Twenty-two goals in one season shows that he is not a chancer,” says the retired Bester.
For Ronald Ketjijere, who was captain as Namibia won the 2015 COSAFA Cup, which led to Shalulile moving to Highlands Park, this was all bound to happen.
“Before I went to South Africa he was once brought to our training grounds at African Stars, and we were wondering who this boy running all over the place is. I easily remembered him when I met him later in a national team training camp.
“Not everyone expected him to settle the way he has done. Sundowns has been said to kill the careers of players by just buying them to keep them on the bench, but contrary to that belief he settled very well.
“It showed that he went to Sundowns with one mission, which has come together now. He is probably the fittest player at Sundowns because he runs from the first minute to the last and how often do you get a striker who is rarely substituted like him?” says Ketjijere.
“HIS ATTITUDE TOWARDS FOOTBALL IS THE BEST THAT YOU CAN EVER FIND IN THE GAME.”