Matthew Booth so should be a jerk. The tall, talented Mamelodi Sundowns defender stands an excellent chance to represent South Africa in the World Cup squad. He is constantly stopped – mobbed, really – by soccer fans wanting a word, or just a few seconds in the glow of the big guy. At his side is his really, really ridiculously good-looking wife, erstwhile model and ex-Miss SA finalist (and certainly not just a pretty face) Sonia Bonneventia. Celebrity couples just don’t come any more golden than this. It really should all have gone to his head – even though, at 1.98m, that’s quite a distance to travel.

But ask anyone about Matthew and Sonia Booth, and all you’ll hear is gushing about “unassuming”, “humble” and “lovely”. Even online gossip sites find precious little fodder for their noxious pursuits. That’s no mean feat for a glamour couple whose credentials, on paper, make Khanyi Mbau jealous.

32-year-old Matthew grew up in comfortable Fish Hoek in the Republic of Cape Town, but he got a Gauteng stamp in his passport when he moved up north in 1999 to join Mamelodi Sundowns, where he stayed, barring one – purportedly unhappy – season at Wimbledon FC, until 2003. Then a stint in Russia turned into an absence of seven seasons until his return to Sundowns for the 08/09 season. (He’s still there.)

Seven Russian winters! How did he cope? “At first I was in Rostov-on-Don for two years,” he explains. “It’s a southern city, so the weather is bearable. I then lived in Samara for four years where your tear-ducts freeze in January... But we missed the worst of it because you can’t play football in December, January and February, so we spent it outside of Russia.” Yes, he did say “we”: “My wife is clearly devoted as she moved with me after she had finished her degree in South Africa. At first it was a bit uncomfortable, but eventually we were quite sad to leave,” he says. “I can even speak Russian at about 80%, and I can understand everything. That was very difficult for me as I’m hardly a linguist!” (By the way, this self-effacing “hardly-a-linguist” also speaks Afrikaans, and “I understand a lot of SeTswana and IsiZulu but can hardly speak them. My wife is IsiZulu/SetTswana, so I’m trying to learn through her.”)

Joburgers and Russians perhaps share little bar a famed propensity for rudeness, but Mr Nice absolutely won’t be drawn on such stereotypes. “Neither is rude,” he insists.

Tolerance is his middle name
Here is man who is not comfortable with prejudice of any kind. I ask him with a chuckle about the furore when Spanish – and various other international – media erroneously reported during the Confederations Cup that he was a victim of anti-white “racism” because he was “booed” every time he had the ball. (In fact, of course, like “Rhoooo!”, “Shoooooes!” and “Feeeeeesh!”, “Boooooth!” is a fans’ call of admiration.) Was he tempted to pretend to be devastated by it, as a joke? Prank the media?

But Matthew is suddenly serious. “No. I’m not much of a practical joker and wouldn’t want to joke about something like that. I was quite embarrassed and frustrated by that whole thing. And it was just such poor journalism. It was a knee-jerk reaction since the Spaniards had racism issues in their football.”

Just as suddenly he concedes, “Okay, maybe in hindsight it was humorous.” And he loosens up to tell this anecdote: “My wife enjoys a good prank. She once phoned me saying she’d been stopped at a road block and put in a cop van with 30 other people. She slowly got me worked up to boiling point taking me through what the traffic cops had done to her. I was about to jump in the car to go rescue her when she confessed it was a joke. It was my birthday that day, so I should have been prepared – but I’m pretty gullible like that.”

World Cup dreams
What’s no April Fools’ joke is the fact that the World Cup is looming a mere double-digit number of days away.

“I’m pretty excited, but not overly, because the team hasn’t been chosen yet,” Matthew says (humbly). “It would absolutely be a career highlight if I was selected. I’ve been to the Olympics and the Confed Cup, but I haven’t played in an African Nations Cup, and to have an African World Cup on my CV will be amazing. I’m not a spring chicken either, so it will be a nice way to round off my career. But of course whether I play or simply watch, you can’t help but be excited.”

Bafana Bafana plays the opening match on 11 June at Soccer City against Mexico, and it’s a game Matthew is eagerly anticipating. “It’s going to be unbelievable. The first game of the World Cup on African soil!”

Matthew concedes that playing at home is going to be “a massive and much-needed advantage”. And the atmosphere will be unbeatable: “Think about it: 90 000 people, most of them South Africans, in one stadium. The vibe is going to be amazing.”

So who does he rate as Bafana Bafana’s stiffest competition? “Besides ourselves, all three teams in our group are tough in their own way. But I think it’s good that we have a tough group because we South Africans tend to get overconfident when faced with teams that are ‘weaker’ on paper.”

Between Matthew and his teammates, they have visited or played in all the new World Cup stadia, and he is impressed by their quality. But he agrees the vibe at Soccer City is something special.

“Joburg is the centre of football in South Africa. There’s a special atmosphere whenever you play here – look at the Pirates/Chiefs derby, which is one of the biggest derbies in Africa, if not the world.

Fans are passionate about their soccer here. So it could seem unfair to the rest of the country that the opening game is here, but this is where most professional PSL [premier soccer league] teams are. Gauteng just is the heart and soul of SA football.”

A man who speaks his mind
Matthew is not scared to be outspoken on issues close to his heart, and he has been critical of rumoured threats that the custom-built soccer stadia might be taken over by better-funded rugby, which has the money to maintain the stadia, after the World Cup.

“My comment about stadiums was that during apartheid rugby and cricket were subsidised sports and football wasn’t,” he explains.

“Now that we have football-specific stadia built for the World Cup, there was talk of them being taken over by rugby to remain economically viable. If that does happen, it will be a great pity.”

It may not, as “soccer has got a massive increase in funding over the last five to six years, and our PSL is the 10th richest in the world. But having said that, not enough of that money finds itself to the grass roots,” he adds.

However, he feels the World Cup will at least provide the opportunity to grow young South African football talent.

Loving Joburg... and Cape Town
The Booths are clearly fond of their city. Matthew, Sonia and their two boys, Nathan (5) and Neo (18 months), live in Honeydew, “But we have a house in Cape Town for the holidays, which we love returning to,” Matthew hastens to add, as if to reassure family or fans down south. (He’s nice like that.)

Matthew says he’s proud of Jozi’s “diversity and cosmopolitanism” and has quirky advice for tourists to SA’s biggest city: “Attend a local football derby and eat typical township cuisine!” he urges. As for himself, a night out is usually at a good restaurant. “We like to explore, and we’re lucky to have a fantastic range of restaurants in Joburg. We both like Thai and Mexican food.” The Booths rate Xai-Xai in Melville and Pigalle in Sandton Square as favourites. And, adds Matthew, “Generally I would consider myself to be a homebody, but of late I’m quite enjoying going to functions and enjoying this ’football period’ that we’re going through.”

So are we, Booooooth, so are we.