His job is to stop strikers from scoring, but now the tables have turned as goalkeeper Sherwyn Naicker has met his match in girlfriend Michel'le who has stopped him dead in his love tracks.

When Naicker started dating his girlfriend Michel'le in 2011, he knew she was a catch that he couldn't allow to slip through his fingertips.

Naicker, 27, recently took their relationship to the next level after he popped the question at a proposal dinner in Roodepoort attended by family and close friends.

"I've known her since I was 15 and back then we were just friends. But we started dating eight years ago and we have been together ever since," Naicker said.

"Proposing has been on my mind for some time. I had been waiting for the right time, but in the end I [realised] there is never a right time."

The Golden Arrows stopper admits that their solid foundation has helped them through the long-distance relationship.

"It's very tough. She is in Joburg and I am in KZN, so it has been a challenge. Sometimes we go a month without seeing each other," he said.

"But we try to see each other when I get some days off, or when she has time away from her studies she comes here."

When he is not on the football pitch, Naicker enjoys an active lifestyle.

"I am not a couch potato, if I am not playing football I spend a lot of time at the gym," he said.