Mamelodi Sundowns are looking for the most expensive cotton wool available, says co-coach Rulani Mokwena.
But it is for star striker Peter Shalulile, who has been influential for both his club and country with his enormous work rate in both scoring and helping create goals.
Shalulile is heavily relied on by his national team Namibia as seen by the two back-to-back World Cup qualifiers this month in their 1-1 draw against Congo and then away to Togo to clinch a narrow away win in Lomé.
The striker managed to return to league action with his club and still got a goal, in Downs’ 2-0 victory over Kaizer Chiefs in their DStv Premiership clash at the weekend.
“You run out of superlatives to describe Peter. This guy, I think he’s charged by Duracell – but the reality is that he is a team player, he sacrifices and puts himself on the line for the team,” Mokwena said of the Namibian captain.
“And he knows it, as long as he is at service for Sundowns, everything will fall into place. We trust him like we trust every single one of our players. We know that, not just with goals and assists, there’s a lot more to Peter – movement, creating spaces, pulling out defenders, the high press and the schemes. Sometimes he is a little bit complicated, but Peter gives us that.”
Shalulile won the Footballer of the Season following his maiden campaign at Sundowns, scoring 22 goals in 39 games in all competitions following his move from now-defunct Highlands Park.
“As long as he continues to do that, maybe the best thing is to try and find the most expensive cotton wool that we can wrap him around with. He just continues to run and run. He is like this even at training. There are times when we work on our pressing schemes and Peter continues to press everybody and we are like ‘Peter, these are the people to press’. And you can see the disappointment in his face. But top player, top human being. We are fortunate to have, not just him, but a very good group in our team,” Mokwena told the media.