SOUTH Africa’s football association says the boots Siphiwe Tshabalala used to score the first goal at the World Cup will become a "historic monument” to South African football.

Safa chief executive Leslie Sedibe told a parliamentary committee on Tuesday that the boots will go on display at Safa headquarters in Johannesburg.

Tshabalala gave the host a memorable start in the tournament’s opening game at Soccer City with his hard strike against Mexico.

South Africa drew the match 1-1, but Tshabalala is remembered as the man who scored the first goal at Africa’s first World Cup.

Sedibe said: "Siphiwe Tshabalala knows those boots do not belong to him because of the historic symbolism they represent.”

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