Eliphas "Safile" Shivute (born 27 September 1974) is a
Namibia
Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...
n retired international
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...
. He retired from football due to a knee injury in 2002 after a career spent in Chinese and European football, as well as domestically. Shivute became the first Namibian to play for a top-level side in Europe, and also, is the man who scored the first international goal for the
Brave Warriors
The Namibia national football team represents Namibia in men's international football and is controlled by the Namibia Football Association. They have never qualified for the FIFA World Cup but have made three appearances in the Africa Cup of ...
.
["Safile, an absolutely phenomenal player"](_blank)
at Namibia Today Sport, 11–17 December 2009, retrieved 27-10-2018
Club career
Eliphas Shivute, affectionately known as “Safile” (Elifas spelled backwards), started playing in 1989 for Namibian side
Blue Waters F.C., and later
Eleven Arrows F.C. He then played for German Fifth Division Schwarz-Weiss Duren in 1996, a nonprofessional side for which he scored over 13 goals in a short spell.
When he scored a hat trick for Duren in one of the league matches that the
Alemannia Aachen scouts spotted him and immediately entered into negotiations for a contract. This negotiations ended into Safile signing a one-year-contract with Third Division Aachen.
Then he had several trials in Scotland, according to the Daily Record Staff, Safile has had trials with
Dundee United F.C.
Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in ...
and
Hearts F.C. earlier, but Shivute decided to sign for
Motherwell F.C.
Motherwell Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, which plays in the Scottish Premiership. Motherwell have not dropped out of the top-flight of Scottish football since 1985, and have l ...
He scored twice in his trial match for and impressed Motherwell manager
Alex McLeish
Alexander McLeish (born 21 January 1959) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player. He played as a defender for Aberdeen during their 1980s glory years, making nearly 500 League appearances for the club, and won 77 caps for ...
, which Shivute admired because as youngster he followed English and Scottish football through TV and books.
His first full match debut in the
Scottish Premier League match in a one-all draw against league leaders Hibernians F.C. earned him the “Player of the Match” award. Safile had been playing more as a schemer-striker, drifting in and around the box.
He played with Mitherwell until 1999 when he moved to
China signing with
Jia-A League club
Dalian Wanda FC in the costliest signing ever by then, £350,000. After one season in 2000 he shortly returned to Namibia playing for half season for his former club Eleven Arrows before moving to another Chinese top league club
Shenzhen Ping'an Kejian where he will played on loan until December 2001.
That winter he returned to Europe having an 8-months spell with Serbian club
FK Čukarički
Fudbalski klub Čukarički () is a Serbian professional football club from Belgrade, more precisely from the Čukarica municipality, that currently plays in the Serbian SuperLiga, the top tier of Serbian football.
Founded in 1926, the club sp ...
playing in the
First League of FR Yugoslavia
The First League of Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Прва савезна лига / Prva savezna liga) was the top football league of Serbia and Montenegro, before the country's dissolution in 2006. The league was formed following the breakup of Yu ...
, just before retiring. Later he played a major role in the transfer of Namibian
Rudolph Bester to that club.
He became the agent of Bester in 2008.
In 2006, he became assistant manager of Namibian Second Division club Invincible FC.
International career
Shivute has been part of the national team since 1992 having earned 49
caps and scored 8 times.
Eliphas Shivute profile
at Motherwell official website. With Namibia he was runner-up at 1997
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...
and 1999 COSAFA Cup. He also represented Namibia
Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...
at the 1998 African Cup of Nations
The 1998 African Cup of Nations in Burkina Faso was the 21st edition of the Africa Cup of Nations (ACN), the national football championship of Africa, administered by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). Just like in 1996, the field o ...
where he scored two goals in a 3-4 loss to Ivory Coast.
Playing style
Namibia Today Sport describe him as striker with much improvisation and audacity, a great finisher, and with flair, speed, and shooting power in both foot and he was a good header.
Personal life
Safile's rise to the role of Namibian football's figurehead has not been achieved without risks. He threw away his education and the prospect of a good job in the mining industry - to follow his dream of becoming professional footballer.
Born in Olukonda, Shivute married Justine in 2003 and is a father of four children, two daughter and two sons. The eldest daughter is Monica, followed by Kwashi, Anastasia and Andrew.
Honours
National team:
;Namibia
* COSAFA Cup runner-up: 1997
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...
, 1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...
.
Personal:
*Namibian Sportsman of the Year: 1997 (award attributed by Namibia National Sport Council)
References
Sources
Eliphas Shivute speaks his mind
- The Namibian, 4 September 1998
- The Namibian, 4 June 1999
Chinese to sign young Cameroon players
- BBC Sport, 17 February 2001
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shivute, Eliphas
1974 births
Living people
People from Oshikoto Region
Namibian footballers
Namibia international footballers
1998 African Cup of Nations players
Namibian expatriate footballers
Association football forwards
Blue Waters F.C. players
Eleven Arrows F.C. players
Expatriate footballers in Germany
Motherwell F.C. players
Scottish Football League players
Scottish Premier League players
Expatriate footballers in Scotland
Dalian Shide F.C. players
Shenzhen F.C. players
Expatriate footballers in China
FK Čukarički players
Expatriate footballers in Serbia and Montenegro