Omaruru-born former Civics and African Stars star Jamunovandu ‘Jamu’ Ngatjizeko was unquestionably one of Namibia’s most talented midfield players of his generation.
With six Namibian Premier League (NPL) championship medals, three each with both Civics and Stars, Ngatjizeko is one of the most decorated players to emerge from our shores.
His unquestionable talent started to show when he attended Goreangab Junior Secondary School at Katutura.
“I was a slow developer. There was absolutely no indication that I would be an excellent footballer one day during my years at J Kapeua Primary School at Ovitoto, where I grew up with my grandfather.
“I only started playing serious football alongside Quinton Jacobs at Dawid Bezuidenhout High School where I matriculated,” he says.
Ngatjizeko was invited by the owner of Hotflames, Erastus Tjaveondja, who were playing in the Khomas First Division at the time, to join his team.
Hotflames were promoted to the premier league in 2000, and their brief spell in the NPL saw them lifting the Swabou Cup before they were relegated at the end of the season.
The midfielder ended up on the books of Okahandja outfit Liverpool, but failed to lift any silverware during the two seasons he spent with them.
His talent didn’t go unnoticed, however, and he was snatched up by the exciting Civics, who were one of the dominant forces in the country at the time.
“Joining Civics, who were coached by the late Eric Muinjo at the time, was like a dream come true for me because it presented me with the opportunity to play with my idol and midfield maestro, Johannes ‘Congo’ Hindjou, who was such a gifted player.
“I knew that to break into the Civics first team would be a real battle because Hindjou and Golla van Staden were the two established central midfielders of the team.
“I was instead battling for the left-wing spot with Donny Isaacs,” Ngatjizeko says.
The Omaruru-born star, who has on many occasions been compared to his idol Hindjou, says there was no player like the former Brave Warriors midfield ace, whom he rates among the best passers of the ball ever to be born in Namibia.
His four seasons at Civics produced three consecutive league titles, a first by a Namibian team at the time, while he also added a Namibia Football Association Cup winner’s medal to his collection.
“One of my most memorable matches of my football career was in the colours of Civics during a Caf Championship qualifier against Angolan outfit Sagrada Esperanca, which saw us winning 4-1 in the first leg in Windhoek.
“My years with Civics were really fruitful because it was also where my personal talent was recognised and rewarded with the most improved player of the season award by the league, while Hindjou walked away with the player of the year award.”
Ngatjizeko could not refuse the approach by his favourite childhood team, African Stars, to go play in the midfield.
The move to Stars added two successive league medals to his collection, with a third coming in his retirement year in 2015 to complement the Standard Bank Cup he won with Samba Boys.
The retired star also represented the country at the under-20, under-23 and senior national team level.
Most notably, he was part of the Brave Warriors that participated in the 2008 African Nations Cup in Ghana, and he also played in all three matches in the group stages.
He also featured in two Cosafa Cup tournaments for Namibia.
The former Civics ball wizard has played against giant nations Egypt, Ghana, Senegal and Tunisia, while he scored his only goal for the senior national team against South Africa during a 2-1 Cosafa Cup quarter-final loss.
Ngatjizeko also attracted the interest of football teams in South Africa, but failed to secure a move to the lucrative South African leagues.
“I first went on trials to Santos, then I went to Santos in Cape Town, but I don’t know what happened because until this day I haven’t receive any feedback.
“Jomo Cosmos were also eager to sign me, but Civics’ chairman at the time, Helmuth Shernovsky, was asking a lot of money for my transfer and the deal subsequently collapsed,” he says.
WORK, FAMILY
Ngatjizeko is currently employed as an assistant coach by reigning league champions Africans Stars.
“I am just happy to still be making a contribution to this great club at which I have retired from playing actively.
“I am still learning and I am just excited to be an assistant coach at Stars. I report to the head coach, and I am mostly responsible for the warm-ups.
“I am basically charged with the mental activation of the players as well as to cool them down after a tough training session. On match day, I take notes whenever we spot mistakes our players make.
“I also note how many corner kicks and free kicks are recorded against us,” he says.
He says it is a job that demands absolute focus, adding that football is now a lot more advanced than during his playing days and he is learning a lot while he also harbours ambitions to become a head coach one day. Ngatjizeko’s advice to young players is to be disciplined and committed, “because those two components are key to the success of any sportsman”.
“However, football is a very short career, so you have to take your education very seriously so that you can have something to fall back on,” he says.
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