Peter Shalulile’s new standing as the all-time top scorer throughout the PSL era years has come with recognition from the man who handed him his first cap for Namibia.
Shalulile has touched greatness by clocking 130 goals in all competitions playing for a top-league club, which includes Highlands Park and Mamelodi Sundowns.
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These goals have come from 292 appearances, putting him ahead of Siyabonga Nomvete, who retired on 129.
Shalulile’s goals have come in in the MTN8, Carling Knockout, Nedbank Cup, CAF Champions League, and African Football League.
He scored 27 at Highlands Park and now has 103 at Sundowns.
"Peter is a proper example of hard work, faith, and perseverance," notes Ricardo Mannetti, talking to KickOff.com from Namibia.
Mannetti is familiar with Shalulile as he was the head coach when the Sundowns forward earned his first cap for the Brave Warriors a decade ago.
This was before the hard-running star came to score the first of what has gone on to pile up to 130 goals in his career.
"He has been through a lot, especially the past season and then with all the speculation that came recently.
"But this is Peter, and he fought back.
"It is a special one for me is that he broke the record at Athlone, where I played for most of my career while at Santos.
"The extra special part is that I coached him and glad that I never gave up on him.
"Even back then when I gave him his first cap, I could already tell that he was very special.
"Come to think of it, in his first game I played him as a left-back as we had top strikers at the time.
"He was willing to play anywhere in the team, so he never complained.
"At that time, he was playing as a utility at his club.
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"We then decided to change him to a striker after we saw him showing us that he has the ability to put in the shift up front.
"His character is such that he is a proper team player and coachable, so who else than Peter to be deserving of all this," says Mannetti.
Photo: Shaun Roy/Gallo Images
