thru pass magazine april edition 2012

THRU PASS April 2012

April 2012 THRU PASS

Administrators wrecking the game – Woody JacobsCoaching is a thankless job. It is the

same across many sports codes but football takes the cake. It is

the code where coaches are fired more than strikers can score goals.

History is awash with stories of coaches having been fired for simply losing one match. The string of past suc-cesses is confined to history and the one defeat becomes the issue that directors and club owners base their decision to give coaches the boot.

It has happened with Jose Mourinho at Chelsea. The “Special One’ won two Premiership titles with Abramochiv’s petro-millions but things changed the next season. He was given the boot for failing to annex a third successive title.

Andre Villas Boas recently left Stam-ford Bridge crying for losing the dressing room to players like Drogba, Lampard and Terry. The Russian billionaire has had enough and decided to give ‘AVB’ the

sack. And the story is not unique to Eu-

rope. Back here in Namibia, the same situations play themselves over where coaches in the Namibia Premier League are hired and fired at the drop of a hat. Sometimes it is perhaps justified but in most cases it is an administrator who decides he has had enough of a particu-lar coach’s face and thus decides to part ways.

For some, the issue is with the quality of players that a particular team has but owners of clubs hardly take that into ac-count. They want results from coaches, by miracle or by whatever else.

Not only are local coaches treated with disdain, they are also humiliated in the worst possible way conceivable. This has made Namibia a leader in design-ing a manual on how to get rid of your unwanted coach. Examples abound.

In one incident, the club directors de-

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Welcome to the second edi-tion of Thru Pass Magazine. The response to the first

edition was overwhelming and so was the attitude towards the whole idea of starting a publication dedicated to local football.

While I am heartened by the positive comments and support, my editorial team and I are mindful that there are still many hurdles that need to be over-come and that won’t happen overnight. We will spend sleepless nights discuss-ing how to package this product to the wishes of the Namibian football follow-ers and decision makers. We shall spend hours and hours deciphering how to influence change in our football land-scape. We shall do that in the interest of promoting the game and generating interest in the individuals, clubs, ad-ministrators, referees and coaches that make this game of football tick.

Namibian football surely has a great future. That cannot be doubted. We must all find a role to play to realize its potential. Like all of us know, it takes sounds administration, commitment and consistent nurturing of talent to create a solid football product that will make the rest of the world to sit up and take keen interest.

Conversely, it also takes a stupid act of misjudgment to destroy every foun-dation that has been built and nurtured over the years. Whether acts are com-mitted deliberately or unconsciously, if they threaten the reputation of the game that we so love, we must rise in unison to condemn such acts just as we collectively applaud success.

In recent months and weeks, unbe-coming behavior in the footballs sta-diums has gone unpunished. I refer to missile throwing and attacks on officials by spectators and club officials. This

has exposed the lack of security at our games and created a very negative im-age of the way football is administered.

Somewhere in those statutes, there are rules and regulations that speak about offences for which culprits should be punished. We have not seen that happening although we feel it is high time that the authorities must act to stamp out such negative tendencies in football.

After all, football should be about excitement and passion. It should be en-joyed and not used to commit dastardly acts in the name of football.

We will welcome and support any initiative aimed at rooting out hooligan-ism and restore sanity and respectabil-ity to the greatest game in the country, and in the world. Let’s hold hands now to ensure a safer environment for our players, officials and spectators.

ED

Editor’s Note

Woody Jacobs


In recognition of the hard work put in by players every day to entertain and give us reasons to talk, celebrate the

good things in our football and to and complain about things that we deem not right, Thru Pass hereby announces the Football Awards, officially to be known as Thru Pass Football Awards.

The Awards are Thru Pass Player of the Season (NPL), Thru Pass Rookie of the Season (NPL), Thru Pass SSFD

Player of the Season and Thru Pass NSFD Player of the Season. The Player of the Season and Rookie of the Season awards are strictly for NPL players.

Thru Pass has appointed various com-mittees to follow the progress of the Namibia Premier League as well as the Southern and Northern First Divisions. Members of the Thru Pass Group on Facebook (Thru Pass Football Magazine NAM) will have an opportunity to vote

for their favourite Thru Pass Player of the Season based on the shortlist pro-vided by the relevant committee. How-ever, the decision of the committees assigned for the SSFD and NSFD awards will select the ultimate winners. The Thru Pass editorial team may also award extra categories if so recommended by the committees.

Each category winner will receive N$500-00 and a trophy.

Thru Pass Football Awards

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cided to not tell the coach he was fired. They invited him to training as usual only for the coach to find that the club has appointed another person. The mes-sage was loud and clear. “Go, we don’t need you.” In another case, the club had returned from a weekend on the road and did unfortunately not chalk up good results. Instead of telling the coach that he was not wanted, they waited for him to go home and then sent him an SMS, saying: ‘Don’t come to training tomor-row. Our paths end here.” How humiliat-ing can it can for the coaches.

But there’s one coach who has de-cided to stand up for the honour and reputation of his fellow coaches amidst the deafening silence driven by fear for a lack of opportunities.

Said to be one of the youngest coach-es, Woody Jacobs has seen it all. He is one of those coaches who can define what it means to be sent packing uncer-emoniously. With only two games (both won), he was given the boot by Tigers at the beginning of this season. Mind you, it was his second stint at the club. The first time, they fired him at a service station. Out of love for the game, he decided to give it a second try but that ended in 180 minutes and two victories.

Jacobs says it was time the honour and dignity of coaches is restored. His view is that it is the administrators who are messing up the game and not the coaches. Administrators simply do not understand how football works and what makes matters worse, according to Jacobs, they are not fired even if they mess up how many times.

Not one of them have attended a sports management training apart from

the 2-3 week courses and they are the ones letting Namibian football down.

“We are a far cry from our European, American, Asian colleagues and we must start blaming administrators, Jacobs opines. He also laments the fact that Na-mibia’s top flight league does not even play enough matches in a season. At the moment each club plays 22 matches in 10 months and Jacobs is of the view that ‘the more you play, the better you be-come.’ He blames this peculiar situation is squarely to be put on the shoulders of the administrators who he says are not technically sound to make decisions like that and all they know is to fire coaches whom they have in the first place not even equipped with the right tools and ample time.

As a victim of “SMS dismissal’ Jacobs says some coaches don’t even have the decency to inform coaches in a digni-fied manner that their services are not needed. Yet, he says, if things go wrong at those clubs, the fired coaches are the first to be approached to rescue the sinking ship. “If we want to take football in the right direction, we should view each other as partners and not as subordinates,” says Jacobs. And he is speaking from experience. At one of the clubs where he had a short lived stint, a group of elders decided who he had to select for the weekend’s match and at which point to make substitutions. Going against that ‘advice’ was considered insubordination. He left but his name is again on the lips of that club for a second opportunity.

For those who think it is all hot air and that he is a disgruntled young man, Jacobs says he has an impeccable record

in domestic football that belies his age. He took Tigers to the summit of the NPL in 2007 before being fired via cellphone; He went with Orlando Pirates on an un-beaten streak in the 2008/09 season af-ter a dismal start under Sheperd Murape but got fired for losing a cup competition against Civics (his home club). He won a silver medal in the NFA Cup and took Civ-ics from the brink of relegation to safety in the 2010/11 campaign. He was beaten for second place on goal difference in 2010/11, while with Pirates. In 2008, as coach of Monitronics FC in the first divi-sion, Jacobs went unbeaten and won the inland stream only to lose out at the playoffs. He took the same Monitronics to TISAN success and he does not count that as ‘little success’. I n his opinion, he has achieved more than a number of coaches put together.

By his own admission, Jacobs never had the luxury to finish a season and end-ing one will afford him the opportunity to make a self assessement of his abilities but he is convinced that if given the right material, time and opportunity, Woody Jacobs is the coach that all clubs will be running to for league and cup success.

But time is a healer and he prays for football administrators to start under-standing the dynamics that coaches should operate under.

As a parting shot, Jacobs is fully confident of the talent in Namibia. “We will however only develop if we reactive school football leagues. This way, you will be able to reach 90% of the youth and thus have a study supply of players from the production line. We have the talent and if we do those things, we can become a better football nation.”


There has been a proliferation of former elite league players in the second tier divisions and it seems

to be paying off in terms of the quality displayed across the country every

weekend.Unlike in previous where

interest in the first division only started picking up when teams approached the last three or four matches of the season,

this year things are different. Spectators have come in their droves to watch Southern

Stream First Division football, with some matches even rivaling

those sparsely attended NPL matches.It has not been difficult to put a finger

on this new development. There are as many former NPL players in the first and second divisions to form a very strong starting eleven in the Premier League. To put the cherry on the cake, there’s even a player who used to campaign in the South African Premier Soccer League. That player is James Matola, former defender at Supersport United and Free State Stars. He has been roped in by Monitronics FC at the middle of this season to improve the club’s chances of winning promotion to the Namibia Premier League.

Since arriving in Namibia, Matola has stabilized the Monitronics defence and their title chasing credentials are testimony to the discipline that he has injected into the team. Matola has however sustained injury to his ankle and now walks on crutches. Since the club fired the former coach, the former Zimbabwe national team defender now sits on the bench shouting instructions to his fellow players. That’s how much value they see in him at Monitronics.

Besides Matola, there are four former Namibia Premier League players who now play for Monitronics. These include Luther Kanalelo who arrived straight from Tigers but who also saw better days with Civics and Ramblers. And then you have Berries Rooi, formerly

with Black Africa and goalkeeper Mika Hoeseb who was loaned from Tigers to Monitronics. Tsiki Somseb, formerly with African Stars and SKW complete the quartet of former NPL players who are now at Monitronics who are in their third successive season of competing for top honours in the Southern Stream First Division.

Former national team defender, George Hummel who has announced his retirement from active football, is spending his last playing days at Blue Boys in Swakopmund after moving from struggling Eleven Arrows. Also at Blue Boys is Tigers’ former hotshot, Kenny Malgas who was also rumoured to have signed with Okahandja’s first division side, Spoilers FC while Wallace Doeseb, formerly with Chief Santos and the Brave Warriors, is now with Swakop-mund Football Club (SFC).

In Windhoek, goalkeeper Collin Ndjai who is on African Stars’ books is on loan to Tura Magic who are neck in neck with Monitronics for Southern Stream First Division glory while former Black Africa and Orlando Pirates striker Wilfred Saul Coetzee is at Young Ones as main anchorman.

However, the player who has at-tracted the most attention among lower league football followers is Jordan Haimbili, former top scorer in the Namibian Premier League with Blue Boys.

Despite media reports of trials with Golden Arrows and Moroka Swallows in South Africa, Haimbili has decided to ditch Blue Boys and join Celtic which campaigns in the Erongo Second Divi-sion.

He has baffled many by not only leav-ing the Premier League but by moving straight past the First division into the Second Division. But those who have seen him say the Erongo Second Divi-sion has become attractive to specta-tors because of people like Haimbili who have infused a bit of talent and discipline into the game.

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SSFD Awash withFormer NPL Stars


He burst onto the local elite football scene as a red hot striker from Mariental and soon

had every soccer follower looking at him with keen eyes. Formerly with a lower division club in his home town of Marien-tal, George Hummel made his introduc-tion into top football as a Chief Santos striker, alongside the feared Gerros ‘The Bomber’ Urikhob.

Having just graduated as a police officer, Hummel was among the fittest players in the league, running hard and equally packing a punch in his shot. He was part of the Chief Santos team that won the NFA Cup against Tigers in 1999.

So destructive was he in front of goals that the Katutura giant, Orlando Pirates stretched out the cheque book and lured him to the white and black outfit. It was also not long after his sojourn at Pirates that he was noticed by clubs across the Orange River. He packed his bags and crossed the border to play for Cape Town’s Hellenic FC. Just one sea-son later, he moved to Gauteng Province to join Moroka Swallows. In between those clubs, Hummel converted to a tough as teak defender who continued to impress scouts from South Africa and elsewhere in the world.

Barely one season at Moroka Swal-lows, the Namibian defender was

invited to trials in Russia and after again impressing the club owners, he joined Luch-Energia Vladivostok in that country on a one-year deal. He is to date the only Namibian to have played profes-sional football in Russia. After the one season in Russia, he returned to Moroka Swallows in South Africa where he spent three seasons before joining Jomo Cosmos.

He played there until 2009 before he returned home to join Eleven Arrows in Walvis Bay. At the beginning of this sea-son, however, he parted ways and joined Southern Stream First Division side, Blue Boys who have also just returned from a season in the Namibia Premier League.

Apart from illustrious football career at club level, the 36-year-old Hummel also represented Namibia and played over 50 matches. He bowed out in 2010, expressing the hope that the current crop of players had the capacity

Not surprisingly, and after serving the game for around 13 years at top level, Hummel announced via Thru Pass page on facebook that he would hang up his boots at the end of this season. “I just want to thank Namibia for the wonder-ful football journey as I plan retire at the end of this season. Surely, I did always try my best to put our beloved Braves on the football map in places like Russia”,

said Hummel on the Thru Pass Group.A flood of congratulations and well

wishes streamed in from fellow players and football lovers, with Dibasen Ga-waseb acknowledging him for the good example that he set for the younger players. “Long live your name and that of your class,” concluded Gawaseb, while Vali Kondowe called on Blue Boys to organize a testimonial in Hummel’s honour. Player manager, Collin April hinted that something was already being planned in Mariental. A former oppo-nent, Tugela Tuyeni said the following: “Big ups to you big George. Your im-mense contribution to Namibian football is there for everyone to see. We can only wish you the best for your future endeavours.”

Indeed, Hummel bows out as a true hero of our soil and Thru Pass also joins the tens and hundreds of people who have saluted him for his immense contri-bution. Our only wish is for Hummel to share his experience with younger ones and to pen his memoirs so that future generations can appreciate the struggles and exciting moments that present day footballers are going through.

Thank you for the memories, even if it sometimes came across as if the nation was hard on you and your generation. You have served your nation with pride.

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Tribute to Big George


Alfred Ndyenge is one of the much-traveled but perhaps little known Namibian players

who have amassed a wealth of experi-ence while studying and playing football abroad. He is a player who has not always had it easy but nevertheless used grit and determination to get where he wanted to be. In this contribution, Alfie, as he is fondly known in his home town and among his peers, takes us through his football journey.

THE FORMATIVE FOOTBALL YEARSIt was at the age of 9 that I was

convinced about my talent as a good footballer. My coach and school teacher at St. Francis Galton Primary School, Mr. Lebbius Tobias (now a regional councilor) picked me to play for the under 12s while I was only nine years old. Imagine the bullying and abuse I got from the bigger boys. I am from Soweto, one of the poor-est locations in Tsumeb and kids growing up there had to be double tough and even more stronger mentally because of the poverty and

As a kid, I had the passion for the game and I wanted to be like my father, the late Mathias `Puma` Shinuna, (Same father to Lazarus Kaimbi) who played soccer himself. He played for Benfica FC in the their prime era and went on to become one of the best talents and icons the club had ever produced.

He was a legend so to say. At the age of 13, I started following

my uncle Hafeni Shikomba to Benfica’s training field to help with collection of balls and carry training equipment as needed. My uncle was then one of the team’s promising stars and by following him I got a chance to rub shoulders with the players and feel the atmosphere in the dressing rooms as well as travel with the team. Experiencing this as a kid was just awesome. The following year, Benfica changed coaches and I managed to sneak into the practice sessions. It was

however hard to be noticed forcing me to quit after two months to concentrate on school football.

BREAKTHROUGHIn 1999, Gerros Urikhob and his neph-

ew, Ricardo Witbeen approached me after a school football match between Otjikoto and Etosha Secondary schools, to join Chief Santos but I had then al-ready signed with Benfica.

I went on to represent my region, Oshikoto in the Namibian news-paper Cup in Otjiwarongo and needless to say, I was one of the best emerging talents in that tournament. I rose to fame and I never looked back since.

I was lucky to have represented the national team at Under 17, 19 and 20 levels and went on to play for my beloved Brave Warriors. I am still looking forward to more caps to the four I have and to score goals at senior level.

GOING ABROADThe first time I went abroad

was with a school exchange program in 2002 play-ing football and doing academic programs. In the same vein, my main aim was to impress as much in football and sell myself there when i got a chance. We played seven games with the folke teams and I scored in each of them, attracting interest from bigger clubs. I remember my mentor Mr Lance Hauwanga telling me about the teams that were interested in me. I asked him to negotiate on my behalf with those clubs but nothing happened while on the exchange programme. I returned home to complete my Grade 12 and did some voluntary jobs with the youth of Tsumeb.

One morning, in early 2005 I received a call from the Mayor of Tsumeb, informing me that I was selected to go to Ches-

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Alfie Ndyenge’s narrow path to football glory

THRU PASS April 2012 7

terfield College in England on a scholarship. Not believing my ears, I just said thanks and the next thing I did was to pray and to thank God. I called my mom to share the good news and she was very happy for me too. I left for England in March 2005 to attend a sports management course which was to run until 2008.

While I was in England, I joined the college team and not long after I started receiving offers to train with Chesterfield FC which played in the League 2. Unfortunately, the club changed managers and I was not offered an opportunity by the new coach. I then quit and went to playing college football and while I was there I signed for a non-league team called Stavely which was more active than the college team.

I was then recommended by my coach to have a go with Derby County but there they onlyu al-lowed me to train as they knew they could not sign me because of Namibia’s low position on the FIFA rankings.

I moved on and ended up signing with Alfreton Town FC, in short.

BEST AND WORST MO-MENTS IN FOOTBALL

The club with best memo-ries must be Chief Santos. My highlight is winning the league in the 2003 and 2004 season during which I played as a winger and thus did not find the net regu-larly.

I won five other local cups with Santos and my first call up

for the AFCON qualifiers against Rwanda was

also while I was with Santos. I however did not make the final cut for the Brave Warriors

that year.The worst club

I have been at was SKW. They tried to spoil my im-age by firing me and releasing me

on the basis of silly reasons. They said I was ineffective and was

not giving my best for the club while I ended up as their top goalscorer. SKW are the reason the national team selec-tors dropped me thinking I was indis-ciplined and because of all the other false information that they passed on. Up to today, they have no valid reason why they discarded me. But not to worry, I am going to continue doing what I do best which is to work hard, stay focused and wait for another call up. I doubt the national team door is shut for me.

I did enjoy my short spell at Civics too, reaching the NFA cup final and the bunch of talent we had there was amazing. If the Civics Chairman could have held on to me, Bradley Wher-mann and Pniea Jakobs we would have formed a fearful strike force to be reckoned with in the country. We where gelling well and we were ready to take to the 2010 season by storm but then better offers came in and so we moved on.

TO EUROPE AND BACK I went to trials in Norway and ended

up signing for a team in Sweden. What happened was that the Norwegian club recommended me to the Swedish club as they already had four foreign players on their books. I thus signed for Noordvarmland FC in Sweden’s third division until the end of the season. Unfortunately, at the end of the season, we lost contact with the coach of the Norwegian club as he was sacked and my contract with the Swedish club finished.

Noordvarmland FC wanted to sign me for the same amount of money but only for one more year but I refused their offer as it was way too little. I survived on what they paid me for the first four months and I was made to believe that things were going to improve.

That however did not happen. I therefore decided to return home and my friend, Tugela Tuyeni encour-aged me to join Civics. That time, my beloved Chief Santos was playing in the second division and I wanted to be in the Premier League.

MY MOVE TO INDIA

The move to India was long over-due. After the friendly match between Namibia and India in September 2010, the Indian teams came offering oppor-tunities to play in their league. Since I had other plans, I delayed because the offers were not so tempting to go for it straight away.

I then went to Turkey for trials in January 2011 but all the good pros-pects were spoiled because my agent demanded huge sums of money from the interested clubs.

The same thing happened when I moved to Thailand. My brother Lazarus Kaimbi, who was also fresh in Thai football, set me up for a contract but the same agent who brought him there out priced me to several clubs.

Without a deal, I again returned home and joined Ramblers. I was initially supposed to sign with Tigers but the club’s management, after scrutinizing the Agreement and the pre-contract we have signed, came back at the last minute to say they could not afford to have me on their books as my salary was too high.

The funny thing about it is that it was already approved and I just had to sign and make it official. Such nego-tiations are not of the kind expected from a club like Tigers which is a massive club. Professionalism must be practice at all times for the good of the club.

I then joined Ramblers after a two-hour negotiation and had to cut my price and agreed on issues such as ac-commodation which I wanted them to pay for me in addition to a small sum of money until the end of December 2011.

We agreed and I signed a short term deal as I knew that the Indian market was going to open in January 2012. Richard Gariseb introduced me to this agent and the agent knowing and hav-ing seen me play, already accepted me and he struck this deal for me with Southern Samity. It is a four-month deal until the end of the season with an option to renew.

Already, the club is talking to keep me for a couple of more seasons but nothing has been put in writing yet. I am also keeping my ears open for big-ger and better options.

April 2012 THRU PASS8

My aim is to play in the I-league next season and for now I am working towards it by giving my best to attract I-league clubs. My deal with Southern Samity will end in April 2012 and from there I will see what is next for me.

HOW BIG IS FOOTBALL IN INDIA?

Yes football is big here, but just not marketed and well represented at national level like cricket. Funny enough, people here know more about our rugby and cricket teams.

Just imagine that on average, the Indian football clubs attract fans of up to 120,000 per match. However, my club is a small club with very few fans of about only 28 to 30 000 fans compared to other clubs.

The first week I arrived in India it was so big for them that the club made a media announcement and almost 20 journalists attended the media confer-ence at the club house while thousands of fans were also present to witness the occasion.

It was awesome but it showed the expectation and pressure i had to carry to make these people happy. I knew then

that I need to keep scoring and play my best football. So far so good. I am loving it here and I have settled in very well. It is just a short time to reach my top and fight for goal scoring honours.

CAN WE EXPECT MORE NAMIBIANS IN THE INDIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUES?Yes I am trying to introduce my fellow

countrymen to my agent to bring them over for and try their luck. For me, if I have to move away from India, it will be to Indonesia, Vietnam or back to Thailand.

PARTING THOUGHTSI am still down to earth with those I am

comfortable with. I respect all, irrespec-tive whether I know you or not. I am hard working and self motivated by those ahead of me and in better positions. It motivates me to be the best I can be for the comfort of my family and myself. As a proud father of two Hensley (7) and Aphiana (4) and I would do anything to be the best dad for them. My role model in this life will be my mother who raised me single handedly, with little support from my dad.

Alfred Ndyenge (left) of Southern Samity shoots during their semifinal against Air India.

I am still down to earth with those I am

comfortable with. I respect all, irrespective whether I know you or not. I am hard working and self moti-vated by those ahead of me and in better positions.


National team stand in coach Bernard Kaanjuka is spoilt for choice. He has available to him a

good number of foreign-based players as much as he has a good number of home based players to select from.

So many are the Namibians playing their trade beyond the Namibian frontiers that Kaanjuka can select a team consist-ing of entirely foreign-based players. That’s if he wants to.

Considering that Kaanjuka has gone for the generational mix, it might not be possible to select an entirely foreign based team but fact is that the players are there for consideration, if he decides to call them up.

At last count, there were at least 12 known Namibian players in foreign leagues but it has emerged that there might be many more Namibian-born play-ers that might wish to play for Namibia, if requested to.

Thru Pass has been alerted to the name of one, Gisvi Isaque Andrade Antunes. Records posted on the Internet about him suggest that he was born in Namibia on 6 March 1982.

He now earns his living playing in the Portuguese league. Wikipedia refers to him as a Portugal-based player who ‘chose to play for Namibia.’

Weighing 85kg and standing 1.88m in his boots, Gisvi plays as a forward for Clube Olimpico do Montijo in the Third division. Before his move to Montijo, Gisvi has played for 11 clubs in Portugal, Greece and other European countries. But before Namibians get their hopes up, word from Portugal is that Gisvi might have just decided to call it a day.

However, he might reconsider if Kaan-juka offers him an opportunity to play for

the Brave Warriors. Notwithstanding, if things don’t go too

well with the local lads, the coach has 12 other foreign based players to consider. These include the evergreen Quinton Jacobs who is playing for United Sikkim in the Indian Second Division. Alfred Ndy-enge, formerly with Chief Santos, SKW and Ramblers has also gone east to India. He is with Southern Samity, a fourth divi-sion clubs where he is making a name for himself (read Alfred’s story elsewhere in this edition).

And then there’s Alfred’s brother, Lazarus Kaimbi who is also now revered as Namibia’s talisman. Kaimbi spent some time in Thailand but return to Jomo Cos-mos after his loan term expired. He has not played for Cosmos yet and murmurs abound that the Thai club is keen to have him back.

Namibia’s biggest name in Europe cur-rently is Collin Benjamin. Despite moving from Hamburg SV in Germany’s Bundes-liga to 1860 Munchen in the Second Divi-sion, Benjamin is still highly regarded by German football fans. He could still add his experience to the Namibian national team and so could Viv Heibeb who is also playing in Germany for Tus Freialden-hoven in the Fifth Division.

Except for Eliphas Shivute who played in Scotland, Britain has generally been a no-go area for Namibian players, thanks to FIFA’s rankings. But Namibia has a rep-resentative there in the name of Miguel Hamutenya.

He was once reported to have signed for Glasgow Rangers but that deal

seemed to have fallen through. He was a trainee at Bolton Wanderers but it has been confirmed that Hamutenya will stay in England and will play for Morecambe in England’s League Two. The club direc-tors were hoping for paper work to be finalized soon to enable the Namibian youngster to start playing when the win-ter season (Europe’s summer) starts.

Also in England are the two Risser brothers, Oliver and Wilko. The older one (Oliver) has signed a short term deal with Swindon Town in the Fourth Division and is already the vice captain while Wilko is with Aldershot Town, also in the Fourth Division.

South Africa is currently home to five Namibian footballers. Among these are old campaigner and former national team captain Enrico Botes who is on the books of Platinum Stars. Tangeni Shipahu, who seemed to have regained his goal scoring prowess of late is with Amazulu where talks for a new contract have already begun. Rudolf Bester is on the books of Orlando Pirates, current PSL title holders and goalkeeper Efraim Tjihonge plays for African Warriors in the Second Division.

The foreign legion is rounded off by Johannes Dumisa Jantze who plays for Progresso do Sambizanga in the Angolan Premier League.

Jantze, who is said to be fluent in Portuguese, recently joined the team on a training camp to Brazil, suggesting that he is very much in the coach’s plans for the future.

That is if loneliness does not come call-ing him back home.

Foreign Legion provides ample choices to Kaanjuka


One of Namibia’s brightest stars on the football pitch has warned fellow up and coming young-

sters that talent alone will not take them anywhere in the soccer world.

The player says all too often the new kids on the block think they have achieved all there is to achieve after just playing a few games in the top flight or for the youth and junior national teams.

Sadney Urikhob, who has this sea-son moved from Ramblers to Civics in a record deal, has encouraged fellow upcoming players to stay focused and to stay firmly rooted on the ground.

He is of the view that success does not come overnight but that it costs disci-pline and commitment to get as far as possible in football.

“In life, the key word is discipline and if you want to be successful in life one day as a sportsman or woman you must be prepared to make some sacrifices, says

Urikhob.Asked what those sacrifices could be,

the player said young sports stars should stay away from alcohol and drugs and must maintain self discipline.

Worst of all, he says, sexual promiscu-ity among young players is destroying their careers.

“it is not wrong to have a girlfriend but don’t be big hearted and have more than one as it will have a negative impact on your football career and you will therefore not be able to achieve success in your career,” warns Urikhob. Besides, he says, promiscuity may lead to sexually transmitted infections that can put a spanner in the wheel of any great player. “Take care of youself, AIDS is real,” he warns his fellow youths.

He is of the opinion that the current crop of young players has all the oppor-tunities to make it big in football and to proof that they can be better than the

players of yesteryear.People who have been around prior to

Independence are almost always heard complaining how the standard of football is no more the same, how football used to be exciting and generate passion among local football fans. Football now has more money but players do not give as much commitment as those of yester-year. Those are all stories told to all those that care to hear them. Many young play-ers have heard this being said or being told to them by fans, sober and drunk.

Urikhob, however, feels today’s players can be better if they want to. Although they have not seen most of the players who are regarded as heroes of Namibian football today, it is Urikhob’s view that nothing should stop the present genera-tion from going one better.

All he says that needs to be done is to exercise discipline and commitment to the game.

Talent alone won’t get youanywhere, warns Urikhob


“Be disciplined and stay focused,” is his rallying cry to his fellow young players, adding that there is enough potential in the country to make Na-mibia a great football nation but that greatness will only translate to success if players themselves do an introspec-tion of where they are and where they want to be in football . “Only then can you decide which direction you want to

take. Success comes from hard work, not just from talent alone.”

Only 20-years old and a key member of the senior national team already, Urik-hob says he is happy to be in the company of seasoned

campaigners who he relies on for guidance in order to

become a great player. It is only through such guidance

and mentoring, as well as listening to veterans in the game that one can improve and become a star.

Although Urikhob, who was dubbed a black version of

Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo, is considered as one of the stars of local football presently, he says he still has a lot to learn and will rely on his difficult upbringing and surroundings to chart his future.

He comes from the Dolam area of Katutura where the majority of people have no fixed income and where many youths find it difficult to survive the daily challenges. He realized these chal-lenges very early and when an opportu-nity was presented to play football, he knew it was the game that would give him an opportunity to improve living

conditions at home.Six years ago with the football acad-

emy craze, he joined Collin Benjamin Soccer Academy in the Youth League but soon realized that he stood no chance to be noticed due to the immense talent on display there. He thus moved to Civics and won both the Under-15 League and Cup in the same year with Christy Gu-ruseb as coach. In the following year, Civ-ics against won the Under-17 League with Urikhob voted as Player of the Season. The next season, Guruseb was appointed to the Pirates technical bench and he took Urikhob with him. That relationship continued when the two of them left Pirates and trekked to Ramblers where Urikhob played a major role in ensuring that Ramblers finished second in the MTC Premiership.

The coach and player’s ‘symbiotic’ relationship was broken for one season, when Guruseb left for Civics while his charge stayed behind at Ramblers but it was not long after when the dynamic duo were back together again when Urikhob decided to also join Civics on a signing on fee that was reported to be the highest in Namibian football history. He thus holds the current record as the player that caused two teams to exchange the big-gest amount of money for his signature. The impressive position that Civics occu-pies surely justifies that expenditure.

His coach and football father, Guruseb is certain of the player’s future, provided he remains grounded.

“He is certainly a star in the making and can in future play a big role in our national team. We will continue to work with him to make sure that status does not go to his head and that he remains as humble as he is now” says Guruseb.

In life, the key word is discipline and if you want to be successful in life one day as a sportsman or woman

you must be prepared to make some sacrifices.


Tigers are one of the oldest football clubs in Namibia, if not the oldest. Those in the know say the club

was founded in 1927 in Old Location, now Hochland Park from whence Theron and his colonial henchmen evicted the blacks and banished them to what is now known in Katutura.

It is a miracle that Tigers is the only club that has survived from the Old Location to present day Katutura and Windhoek in general. Not much is known about the other clubs that used to play football in the Old location but word has it that some of our present day political leaders where some of the top players back then. The old guard speaks fondly of the team’s exploits when the likes of present-day rivals like African Stars, Black Africa and Orlando Pirates were still be-ing incubated.

Tigers were known as a trophy winning side, and that history carried over until the 1970s and 1980s. In fact, Tigers won the then Namibia National Soccer League in 1985 and were runner up to Blue Wa-ters the next year. In between they raked in a few trophies, including the Easter Weekend Tournaments but the big ones, such as the Mainstay Cup, eluded the Shandumbala side.

Fast forward to the 1990s where Tigers became a formidable side and for that they won back to back NFA Cups in 1995 and 1996 during which they won the double by virtue of also having won the Metropolitan Shield which was then the premier cup tourna-ment, after the NFA Cup.

After that, Tigers played in four more NFA Cup finals in 1997/8, 1999, 2001/2 and 2003, losing all of them. It also makes them the club which has played and lost the most NFA Cup

finals. Like stocks on the bourse, Tigers have been moving up and down the NPL table every year for the past 22 years, not winning the league but providing a chal-lenge and helping others to the finishing line.

The longest serving player of present day Tigers, Abiatar Fox Nambundunga feels it is time for the trophy drought to stop, here and now. Although it looks be-yond Tigers’ reach with Black Africa hav-

ing created an ocean between itself and other title pretenders, Nambundunga feels Tigers can still win the league. If it is not this year, then maybe next year but the bottom line is the country’s oldest football club must come out of its shell and start winning trophies for its fans.

Tigers have one of the biggest support bases but the majority of them have de-cided to wait for results from the Tavern or Ded Shebeen, seemingly fed up with the team’s inconsistency in terms of win-ning trophies.

Nambundunga joined Tigers in 1996, and was third choice goalminder after Papi Matingu and Dax Andjamba. He bid-ed his time until he claimed the Number One jersey which he has worn ever since.

He has however never tasted success in the blue and white jersey and consid-ering that he may not have many more years to play, the fox is hoping to encour-age his team mates to start filling up the trophy cabinet soon.

He is of the view that the problems of indiscipline that plagued the club have all been done away with and all that remains is for the players and coaches to focus on pleasing their supporters.

But he has another issue on his hands which he views as a positive move. Tigers has acquired the services of former national team goalie, Athiel Mbaha from Ramblers but Nambundunga feels he has

not been having any competition for the goalkeeper’s jersey and bringing Mbaha in was perhaps just the tonic the doctor ordered. “Mbaha’s coming here will not let me leave the team as many people think. I am Fox and I will fight for my number one position. The sup-porters must also just believe in us. We will make it in this league.”

Time for Tigers to stepup to the plate - Fox

It is a miracle that Tigers is the only club that has survived from the Old Location to present day Katutura

and Windhoek in general. Not much is known about the other clubs that used to play football in the Old location but word has it that some of our present day political leaders where some of the top players back then.

Athiel Mbaha


He was once known and referred to by scribes as a wayward and temperamental player and there

were more than justifiable reasons why he had to carry that tag with him. He would not play more than two matches without picking up a caution and/or a dismissal from the field.

That was Enslin Lovers Kamuhanga for you. He had a big temper just as much as he had an appetite for the game of football. It perhaps explains why it was hard for him to accept to play second fiddle. His big heart would not let him accept defeat.

Despite his temper though, Lovers has been every coach’s dream player. Bar his mood, he was a player that any club boss would want to his books. Since the beginning of this season, Lovers has been with the champions Black Africa. He has helped to put the club on course for a second successive MTC Premiership title.

Packing a huge punch in his tiny legs, Lovers has been a catalyst for his team, contributing not only in terms of work rate but also in terms of the number of crucial goals scored against the opposi-tion. But it was not smooth sailing in the beginning. By his own admission, he struggled to settle in and the first four games for Black Africa are 360 minutes that he thinks could have been better. He did not despair though. Knowing his true potential, he sought help and found some offered freely by national team coach Bernard Kaanjuka. The advice was to the point. ‘Work hard, visit the gym more often to work on your strength.” The result of that advice is the hot shots that Lovers scare the goalkeepers with. He is arguably among the hardest kickers of the ball but he has an extra accolade that has been added to his name. He is now Namibia’s David Beckham for noth-ing else than those venomous crosses

which almost often result in goals for Black Africa.

Lovers is not carried away by being compared to Beckham. He knows Beck-ham has achieved an awful lot that he can only dream of but he is determined to work extra hard to become and remain Namibia’s best crosser of the ball. Rather than being referred to as Beckham, he looks forward to the day when younger soccer players call themselves Enslin Lov-ers Kamuhanga.

As for Black Africa’s chances of winning the second successive MTC Premier-ship title, Lovers says he and his team mates will work very hard to maintain the momentum. His view is that the hard work on and off the field will amount to nothing if Black Africa had to lose the title race to any club.

“We are almost there but we will work hard to ensure that we deliver the trophy to our fans.”

Lovers Kamuhanga, Namibia’s own Beckham


Since Bernard Norii Kaanjuka took over as interim coach of the senior national team, there have been

lots of calls to include specific players that some people think deserve to be in the national set-up. Justified or not, every football lover has his or her preference based on a number of reasons.

The coach too, has his reasons for selecting the players that he selects and his performance and the extension or termination of the coaching contract will depend on how those particular players perform. That is why the coach’s job is the most delicate, especially at national team level where every one of the two million Namibian inhabitants feels they know better than the person in charge of the team.

The turnover rate of coaches in Na-mibia and elsewhere in the world is so high. And it is easy to understand why. A coach is hired to make the team win. If he doesn’t, he is out. It is as simple as that.

But to give Kaanjuka a bigger headache than he already has, Thru Pass has com-piled its own list of eleven players who are thought to be the heirs apparent of the positions in the national team. These are players who are performing consis-tently for their clubs week in and week out and who would do an equally good job should they be given a chance to don the red jersey of the Brave Warriors.

Here is the Thru Pass “Waiting in the Wings” Selection. It is based on the on the 4-3-3 formation that the Braves are currently using.

GOALKEEPER: Charles Uirab (SKW) - The reason why SKW are doing so well this season. He is a goalkeeper with a big heart.

RIGHT BACK: Marvin Katire (Black Africa) - Very reliable and coachable. Not an overlapping player, but very good in his defensive duties and hardly gives any

wrong pass. Can be hard and tough if need be.

LEFT BACK: Edmund Kambanda (Ben-fica) - With a lack of quality left footed players, this boy stands out head and shoulders above the rest and he is only 18 years of age. He has the physical ability to overlap the entire 90 minutes. He is strong and fearless.

CENTRE BACK: Pat Nevin Uanivi (African Stars) - Sometimes overlooked because of his petite size, but any striker in the league will testify that he is the smartest defender in the NPL. He has great anticipation and perfect timing.

CENTRE BACK: Martin Kambungu (SKW) – He was converted from midfield to defence where he looks much more comfortable. He is strong in the air and a

good tackler. He is improving with every game.

DEFENSIVE MIDFIELD: Emilio Martin (Ramblers) - One of the best passers of the ball. A match winner from set pieces and very good game reading ability that is needed for a defensive midfielder.

ATTACKING MIDFIELD: Marko van Wyk (Black Africa) - A player that you won’t see on the field, but you will miss him when he is not playing. He is a true professional. He is ever hard working and can play anywhere in midfield and he can score important goals. He is also very good in the air.

ATTACKING MIDFIELD: Steven Gariseb Petit (Civics) - His work rate is second to none. He can win balls and make it hard for any player to take it from him. He has a never say die attitude.

RIGHT WING (FORWARD): -Stanley Kamaisiepo (Orlando Pirates) - One feels sorry for any left back facing him. He is strong and speedy and he provides a lot of options for his strikers.

CENTRE FORWARD - Papi Kavezembi (Tura Magic) - He is one of the best target men in Namibian football and also the best header of the ball. He scored a third of his goals from headers. He is very difficult to mark due to high work rate. Should they get promotion, he could be amongst the top strikers in the NPL.

LEFT WING (FORWARD): -Joslin Kamatuka (SKW) - He has pace and can leave any player on the ground. He is very tricky and is not shy in front of goals. He has rescued SKW with vital goals this season.

Waitingin the wings

The turnover rate of coach-es in Namibia

and elsewhere in the world is so high. And it is easy to understand why. A coach is hired to make the team win. If he doesn’t, he is out. It is as simple as that.


Former Okahandja Beauties midfielder Tomalina Adams is enjoying life in Germany where

she plies her trade for fourth-division side SV Germania Hauenhorst.

Thru Pass finds out more about her.When did you start playing orga-

nized structured football? I was about 15 years old, three years ago and that was then I joined the national team too. That is when I came to Windhoek too.

But where are you from? I m original-ly from the southern town of Luderitz and I came up to Windhoek to pursue my soccer career while I attended school at Eldorado Secondary School.

What was your best game for the national team? It will have to be when we played Angola last Year. I a scored in the first leg away from home. We drew the second one at home goalless and we advanced, it was in the Olympic qualifiers if I remember well.

What the toughest game you played in? It has to be when we played Nigeria last year, it was a huge score-line that we lost by and they were very superior in all departments to us. It was also a learning curve for the whole team and d for me personally, I really learned a lot about football in that match and I guess I have taken in some of those lessons.

Who is the toughest player you faced? There are a lot of them but I must here mention defender turned goal keeper Damara (national team keeper Susana Eises). She was hard to face and knew how to take me out.

What was the first allowance you got for starring for the national team? It was N$ 3000

What is your favorite food? My favor-ite meal will have to be a smoked snoek (fish) and in Germany it will be Pizza. One-two’s

Namibia Women Super League or German Women league? German wom-en league, because t it is very competi-tive and you can grow as a footballer

Namibia or Germany? Namibia will

remain my land. I was born here and know so much about it.

Germany it cold at the moment, but is a great country too. So I well again settle with Namibia.

Namibia remainssweet homefor Tomaline

Namibia will remain my land. I was born here and know so much about it. Germany it

cold at the moment, but is a great country too. So I well again settle with Namibia.

Tomalina Adams


Brave Gladiators defender Mammie Kasaona hails from

Warmquille, some 150 km from Opuwo and the 24 year old, who

plays for SV Germania Hauenhorst in Germany talks about professional

football and life in general.Mammie, tell us when did you

start playing soccer? I joined the NFA structures in 2007. I was still a teenager back then.

What is the toughest game you played? It was for the national team when we played Angola Away. Remem-ber when there were stories about some Angolans players being boys. It was very tough to play them on that day in Luanda.

And the easiest game you played? There are no easy games in football because everyone prepares for the game at hand and they give their all. But if we have to talk of a game that I really enjoyed myself and played with not so much pressure at the back, It will have to be when we visited Botswana in 2008. On the Saturday, it was still goalless and the game was rained out and we replayed on Sunday and we beat them 3-0 at their home. It was a good game for me really.

When did you come to Windhoek? I only came here in 2007, it was football that brought me here. I was discovered by the coaches and they made plans for me to come to Windhoek and today I am playing in Germany. It is such an honor for me to be so blessed.

What do you think of the current crop of players in the Gladiators? I think we have a good team that is capable of mak-ing history in various aspects. For one,

me and Tomalina are now in Germany playing professional football and that is great. We have had some crucial games over the years where we defeated the odds and held our own. We still have a long way to go

though and I’m confident we can still reach some milestones with this team,

thanks to our coaches and the NFA.Which league would you prefer,

Namibia or Germany Women League? It will have to the German one because it is more organized and there is so much

help and resources are aplenty. You watch what you eat and have regular scheduled on when to train. Competitive football up there too and the supportive you get from the fans, the clubs and oth-ers is tremendous.

What is you favorite meal? Definitely pap and vleis, because I am Herero and I so miss the meat when I am in Germany. I capitalize when I am home, mbuae.

What is your dream car? If I make enough money I will purchase an Isuzu so that my granny can sit comfortably. I don’t like these city cars, especially Golfs. There is not enough space for our African families.

Mammie missesNamibian meat

16

There are no easy games in football

because everyone prepares for the game at hand and they give their all. But if we have to talk of a game that I really en-joyed myself and played with not so much pressure at the back, It will have to be when we visited Bo-tswana in 2008.

Mammie Kasaona

thru pass magazine april edition 2012

Documents

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