Daine Klate has won 12 – yes, 12 – top-flight championships since 2004, including five Premiership titles.
And the 31-year-old proved on Saturday night that he was still full of running when he almost single-handedly beat Tshwane giants Mamelodi Sundowns in the MTN8 final at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit.
The Port Elizabeth-born left winger Klate – who Wits coach Gavin Hunt says is developing into a fine No 10 as well – netted twice in a 3-0 victory over Sundowns and was involved in the other goal too to be named the Man of the Match.
It ended a six-year trophy drought for Wits, and sets up their season nicely as they take aim at that elusive Premiership title that has just eluded them in recent years.
And at the heart of it all is Klate, a known winner. He clinched three consecutive league titles with Hunt at SuperSport United from 2007 to 2010, and another two at Orlando Pirates from 2010 to 2012 – that’s five in a row. His most recent success before last Saturday was the Nedbank Cup with Pirates in 2014.
Yet, Klate is not in the Bafana Bafana squad for Saturday’s opening 2018 Fifa World Cup qualifier against Burkina Faso in Ouagadougou (8pm SA time kickoff).
Bafana coach Ephraim “Shakes” Mashaba named a 25-man squad two weeks ago that saw overseas-based midfielders Thulani Serero, May Mahlangu and Ayanda Patosi recalled to the national team after they were ignored in the recent past.
Patosi and Aubrey Modiba are the recognised left wingers in Mashaba’s squad, with Keagan Dolly the likely starting left-sided central midfielder.
While Modiba was one of the better performers for the SA Under-23 side at the Rio Olympics and recently for Cape Town City before he joined SuperSport United, he is still a youngster who could learn a lot from someone like Klate, who has seen and done it all.
And the same applies to 23-year-old Patosi, who is a bit of an unknown factor for South African fans as he has played in Belgium since his teens. Hailing from Khayelitsha in the Western Cape, Patosi plays for Lokeren FC and has earned 10 caps since his debut in 2013.
Klate is renowned for his work-rate down the left flank and his ability to either supply a perfect cross or get inside the box himself, and he is a rare breed of player in South Africa as a quality left-footer.
His involvement in all three Wits goals on Saturday was classic Klate – first drilling home an Eleazar Rodgers cross with his right foot from the edge of the box after just 34 seconds, then diving for a loose ball in the penalty area to beat Sundowns keeper Denis Onyango and set up Rodgers, and then the tall striker repaid the favour again by finding Klate at the near-post, with the midfielder sliding in ahead of Onyango.
Klate knows the secret ingredient to win football matches and trophies, and we all know that Bafana need all the help they can get after a failed Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign.
Hopefully he will get another opportunity to add to his 12 Bafana caps, the last of which came against Botswana in a 2014 World Cup qualifier in September 2013.