Sundowns’ Shalulile responds to criticism of poor form

By his lofty standards, Mamelodi Sundowns striker Peter Shalulile has had a lukewarm season in front of goal. The Namibian finished the DStv Premiership with nine goals in 21 appearances for the Brazilians.

Shalulile is expected to spearhead the Sundowns attack in Saturday’s Nedbank Cup final against Orlando Pirates at Mbombela Stadium. A calm looking Shalulile addressed the media at the club’s Chloorkop base on Tuesday and revealed how his teammates supported him during his dry spell.

“A lot of things were going on and the media was writing but as a striker, life can’t always be good,” Shalulile said.

‘It’s how you pick yourself up’

“There are down moments where things don’t go well for you, it’s how you pick yourself up and the support from your teammates and the coach. They never gave up on me and as a player you just go back to the drawing board and do the things that you were doing.

“Eventually, the breakthrough comes through and you see that I started getting back on form towards the end of the season which is not my plan but God’s plan. Knowing that there are top players is good because it’s competitive.

“At the end of the day, you don’t want the same person getting the top goalscorer. You need to push and make sure that it’s competitive, but as you know the ball is round and we will see who takes their chances (on Saturday).”

The experienced 30-year-old was way behind the scoring charts, with Tshegofatso Mabasa set to pick up the golden boot award after scoring 16 top flight goals.