Siyabonga "Bhele" Nomvethe celebrated his 40th birthday yesterday with a great regret - never winning the Premier Soccer League (PSL) title.
The PSL's all-time leading scorer is clocking two decades of professional football, a journey marked by many milestones.
Top of the pops is the solitary strike he scored for South Africa against Slovenia at the 2002 South Korea-Japan World Cup.
The greatest goal of his career? "Oh yes," he beams before describing it as though it happened yesterday."It was a free-kick delivered by Quinton Fortune. It changed direction when I had already jumped aiming for a header but the ball changed direction, dropping a bit low. I was already in the air and it hit my thigh and went in."
No one cares whether he scored it with his male anatomy, chest, hip, that goal will forever be etched in the minds of his countrymen as the one that gave Bafana Bafana their one and only victory at the globe's greatest football tournament.
Russia held the draw on Friday for the World Cup they will host next year and Bafana will be watching on the telly.
"It is sad that we won't be there. I hope the players will pick up. Stuart must start afresh from zero. Let's hope things will work out better," said Nomvethe.Though Nomvethe won the league championship with Djurgårdens IF (Sweden) and Aalborg BK (Denmark), the crown eluded him on the home front with Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates and Moroka Swallows.
"It is something that I would like to achieve but I am aware that it may not happen. If it does not happen I will accept it but if it happens it will be something very big for me," said the AmaZulu striker.
Coach Cavin Johnson uses him sparingly at Usuthu, who will have to mount a magical challenge for Nomvethe to realise his dream.
At 40, he is the most senior citizen of the current PSL crop and retirement remains a foreign thought.
"I am enjoying my football and feel that I still have two more years. I do my very best whenever the coach wants me to play.
"When I am on the pitch, I don't care too much about a lot of things because it gives me a lot of satisfaction," he said.
The second oldest player in the league is 37-year-old Bidvest Wits goalkeeper Moeneeb Josephs, who made his professional debut for Cape Town Spurs in 1999.
Treating one's body as a temple and respecting the game is the mantra of the KwaMashu-born marksman."Age is just a number, the key for me has been looking after myself and training well," he said. "I have given this sport that I love so much my all and I have always played with my heart."
He caught the attention of the nation by massacring goalkeepers as part of the merciless Three Musketeers striking trio for African Wanderers alongside Sibusiso Zuma and Phumlani Mkhize.
From Chiefs, Nomvethe moved to Italy where he played for Udinese, Salernitana and FC Empoli.
He returned home to join Pirates where he stayed with the Buccaneers for almost three seasons before returning overseas for a short spell with Aalborg in 2009 and he later joined Swallows.
Among his accolades are the PSL footballer of the year, player of the season, players' player of the season and the Lesley Manyathela Golden Boot for his 20 goals aged 34.
The veteran is the last player to tally 20 goals a season in the local league.
Nomvethe, who scored only once this season, enjoyed a lengthy international career where he earned 82 Bafana caps including appearances in four Africa Cup of Nations tournaments in 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, two World Cups in 2002 and 2010 and 15 goals.He also played at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, where South Africa's Under-23 side famously beat Brazil, boasting a young Ronaldinho, and he featured for Aalborg in the Uefa Cup in 2008 where they were eliminated by Manchester City in the last-16.
"It's a natural thing to always have a feeling that you could have done better but I look back on my contribution to my country with pride," he said.
"I played with some of the best players this country has produced and against some of the best in the world. It was an honour and a privilege to play for Bafana Bafana."
mphahlelem@sundaytimes.co.za..