Johannesburg -Siphiwe “Shabba” Tshabalala netted the opening goal for South Africa against Mexico at Soccer City in front of an 84,000-strong crowd.
In celebration of that memory, the now 35-year-old Shabba is hoping to give back and inspire African children with his latest book.
“This is a story of a boy who grew up in Phiri, Soweto and always loved football,” said Tshabalala in a statement released by SAFA.
“He had dreams and wanted to be on the big stage and then he heard on radion that there were trials. He made the grade but was bullied because of his size and height
“However, he didn’t allow anyone to pull him down and he worked hard to be a superhero
“If you look at it, this is a story about my journey and the FIFA World Cup. The story is meant to inspired the African child.”
Tshabalala says the children who read the book will get to learn South Africa’s history from a person who grew up in an impoverished township and went on to conquer the world stage.
“I believe every child gets this book and that is why we need government support to ensure our history is preserved,” said Tshabalala.
The book is available from Grades 3-5 and will be in four languages – English, SeSotho, IsiZulu and, SeTswana.
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