Matthew Booth

At 47 years old, Matthew Booth has this physical status:

Matthew Paul Booth (born 14 March 1977) is a former South African football defender who has most recently played for Bidvest Wits in the Premier Soccer League and internationally for the South African national team.

Booth will be remembered as a fan favorite among South African fans as he touched the ball, while British media outlets dubbed him "The White Knight" as the South African national team's only white player.

Personal life

Sonia Bonneventia, a businesswoman and former model, is married to Booth. The couple have two children together.

Booth saved a woman from being assaulted on Cape Town's nightclub strip on Long Street early on a Saturday morning. Booth had been playing for Wits in an Absa Premiership match against Ajax Cape Town, which they lost 1–0, at Cape Town Stadium on Friday night. After using an ATM and walking back to his family, he saw a man assaulting the woman and rushed to her assistance. Booth was toppled onto a store's window ledge, which had spikes to discourage people from standing on the ledge. The perpetrator was arrested by members of the Central City Improvement District. Booth recovered to his hotel where the team doctor treated him to his injury.

Multiple public schools are owned by Booth's junior coaching clinics. In addition, he has done some television work for the South African Broadcasting Corporation as an analyst and some writing for The Sowetan. Booth has also applied to study at the University of South Africa for a BA degree.

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Early life and youth career

In Fish Hoek to Paul and Anthea Booth, he was born. Paul's father, Paul, was an engineer and a mentor for Fish Hoek AFC, while his mother Anthea was a legal secretary. At the age of five, Booth started playing football for Fish Hoek AFC. He played in the Bayhill U19 tournament for Fish Hoek in 1993, where he was discovered by Cape Town Spurs coach Richard Gomes, who saw a lanky youngster flying into tackles halfheartedly and towering above the opposition's attackers, and invited him to train with the club's youth. He began training with the senior squad, which went on to win the league and the BobSave Super Bowl in 1994, right after turning 17. He worked at a Woodstock sports store and then travelled by train to Parow after work to train with the team at CR Vasco da Gama fields at the time, and then back to Fish Hoek after training.

Career

Booth began playing professionally in 1996, alongside veteran players such as Shaun Bartlett and Craig Rosslee. In 1999, the Cape Town Spurs and Seven Stars were merged to form Ajax Cape Town. He was deemed surplus to Ajax's demands and wanted to sell him to the newly established Mother City. He battled back and eventually joined Mamelodi Sundowns, spending three seasons.

Booth was loaned out to First Division side Wimbledon in 2001, but he never made an appearance for the first team and was only used in reserve team matches. He was later reported that his time at Wimbledon was "not a happy moment" because the club was in turmoil over the transfer to Milton Keynes. In 2002, he moved to Russia to represent both Rostov and later, Krylia Sovetov, as well as other Rostov and Krylia Sovetov, who competed with and against players such as Branislav Ivanovi, Vágner Love, and Jan Koller.

Even though he was given the option to renew his playing contract, Booth resigned from professional football on June 19, 2014.

Booth made his South African debut against Botswana at the Cosafa Castle Cup on February 20, 1999. He made thirty-seven appearances for the national team, scoring one goal. Booth missed out on the 2002 FIFA World Cup due to a knee injury, but he was a participant of the 2010 FIFA World Cup team (which qualified as hosts of the tournament), despite being an uninhibited substitute for all three group stage matches. At the 2000 Summer Olympics, he captained the under-23 team.

Booth is regarded as one of the top players in meeting opponents with taller opponents due to his height.

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