From saving goals to ensuring work safety

FORMER Tigers and Brave Warriors goalkeeper Petrus ‘Dax’ Andjamba is the personification of patience.

Although he was consistently called up to the national team for close to four years, Andjamba only played a meagre five matches for his country during that period.

Born and bred in Windhoek, the retired footballer started playing football at Mandume Primary School in Katutura and continued playing for the under-10 team of Namutoni Primary School before he finally made it to the Immanuel Shifidi Secondary School.

“It is very funny how destiny works out. I was not always a goalkeeper like many people think. I was actually a defender before I switched permanently to guard the goals. The usual goalie didn’t turn up for a match one day and our coach asked me to keep goal.

“You don’t ask many questions if your teacher tells you what to do, and the rest, like they say, is history. I went on to represent the country at junior level – for both the under-20 and under-23 national teams – and I was also a member of the 1993 Tisan Namibia team,” he says.

Andjamba joined the exciting Central First Division outfit African Blizzards at the age of 17, where he battled for the number-one jersey with the late Moses Kandjoze, who later joined Black Africa, before he eventually made the jersey his own.

In between, he also played for the Shifidi Secondary School team with whom he won the Coca-Cola Schools Championships in 1992 before he joined the Windhoek Vocational Training Centre in 1993, where he qualified as a bricklayer in 1994.

“My football career was starting to take a new dimension after I got selected for the Tertiary Institutes Sports Association of Namibia (Tisan) Games. We went to compete against other tertiary institutions in Swaziland, and that was my first introduction to regional football.”

He was recruited by Tigers in 1994, and, having been on African Blizzards’ books, it was not surprising at all, because the Donkerhoek-based outfit served as a feeder team for the Namibia Premier League giants at the time.

The Ingweinyama, as Tigers were affectionately known, were led by a legion of exciting young players at the time, like Harmuth ‘Teenage’ Iyambo, Alele ‘Zico’ Kapule, Oubaas ‘Lalas’ Mokwena, Oscar ‘Scarra’ Hiskia, and the acrobatic goalie Ephraim Davids.

Andjamba was also second choice after Davids during his initial months after he joined, but subsequently became the first-choice goalkeeper, and shortly afterwards, the national team selectors promoted him to the senior team from the under-23 side.

Andjamba won three cups with Tigers: the NFA Cup thanks to a 1-0 win over Black Africa in 1995, and they also retained the cup in 1996, while adding the Metropolitan Shield to their trophy collection after trouncing African Stars 2-1 in the final.

The second NFA Cup success was achieved after a hard-fought 1-0 final win over Okahandja outfit Liverpool.

Tigers’ good showing in the NFA Cup took them on an African safari. They first went to play in the CAF Cup Winners Cup against teams from Lesotho and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 1996 and 1997 respectively.

“One of my most memorable matches in a Tigers jersey was against AC Sodigraf in Kinshasa, in the DRC. We were trailing 4-0 at half-time, and we did well to overcome a total onslaught because the Congolese were attacking us like people possessed.

“I lost count of the saves I made, but the 7-0 final score was more flattering to us at the end of the match. Another standout performance was in the Metropolitan Shield final against Liverpool, when I made a dying-minute match-winning save against Bimbo Tjihero,” he says.

Andjamba also enjoyed a short stint with former Namibian giants Young Ones for about three years, before returning to his beloved Tigers, where he also spent some time in the technical department as assistant coach to former teammate Johannes ‘Kumi’ Umati.

WORK, FAMILY

The retiree is currently employed as a principal utility man by NamPower, where he is the safety, health and environmental wellness officer.

“This is a huge and challenging responsibility. I am expected to see to it that every safety detail is set out correctly before we embark upon a project requiring health and safety on site – like during the renovation or construction of a new power station,” he says.

“Some of my older colleagues are finding it hard to adapt to the newly implemented safety on the construction

sites. They are simply not used to the safety equipment we are using,” he says.

Andjamba got married to his long-time girlfriend Madelaine Andjamba in 2019, and the couple has three children.

The former goalie, who names his father, Paulus Andjamba, as the person with the biggest influence on his football career, says he is completely happy with the way his life has panned out after his playing career.

“Firstly, I am happy that I have taken it upon myself to go to a vocational training centre and be trained as a bricklayer.

“Secondly, I am married happily to a wonderful woman who is all about progress,” he says.

Andjamba’s advice to young players is to train hard, “because if you are fit, football is easy”.