Former Bafana Bafana and Kaizer Chiefs star winger Siphiwe Tshabalala has insisted that he still has the desire to play football even though he has been without a club for close two seasons.
Shabba was released by AmaZulu at the end of the 2020/21 season, with his last game coming against Maritzburg United in May last year.
He looked sharp in that game, rolling back the years of successful career he has had in the local scene, going close to score and claiming the man of the match afterwards.
But he played that game as Usuthu were already assured of the second spot of the DStv Premiership table, and coach Benni McCarthy selected him and other players who didn’t get many opportunities before then.
Shabba had joined Usuthu in October 2020, just weeks after president Sandile Zungu, his friend, had bought the Usuthu status.
“I still have the desire to play at the highest level,” said the former Chiefs captain this week.
“Like I said before, if it does not happen still (that I don’t get a club), it is still okay. If I decide to wake up the next day and say ‘okay, that’s it, thank you to football’, I’ll still be okay, there’s no regret, because there have been a lot of highs and I’m grateful.
“My heart is full. So I’m okay where I’m, I don’t feel that time is running out.”
In fact, Shabba, who will forever be remembered for that beautiful strike against Mexico in the opening match in the SA’s World Cup 12 years ago, said on Monday that he got a text from someone abroad who offered him an opportunity to play but “didn’t entertain it”.
The midfielder was at Chiefs between January 2007 until August 2019 and played 372 games for Chiefs, including 336 starts and 36 subs. He has scored 58 goals for the Glamour Boys.
Shabba holds the record of players making an appearance in the Soweto Derby against Orlando Pirates since the formation of the PSL in 1996. He has played in 31 Derbies, scoring four goals.
The 38-year-old won league twice, the Telkom Knockout three times, MTN8 twice and the Nedbank Cup once.
With this record with the Glamour Boys, there were talks that Chiefs wanted him back administratively but that has died down.
“I heard about the rumours, but I was not informed or approached about that one,” said Shabba who scored 12 times in 89 appearances for Bafana.
