Namibian football export in decline?

FOR a country that has around two million people as citizens Namibia has done relatively well in producing world-class sport talents over the years.

Frankie Fredericks, the boy from the ‘Groot Winkels’, is the first name that comes to mind when you mention Namibia in the sport context. Harry Simon played his part too, and of late Paulus ‘The Hitman’ Moses has been flying the flag high.Football the best supported sport in terms of fans has been a case of good hits and many misses. Collin ‘Chippa’ Benjamin and Rassie Tjikuzu have been the exceptions rather than the rule solely because they play in the top European leagues. ‘Chippa’ has reached the pinnacle of club football by playing in the UEFA Champions League and to make it even sweeter it was against his childhood team-Arsenal. The realisation of a dream. Rassie, despite his love-hate relationships with local football authorities, has done very well in the demanding world of paid ranks. He has spent more than ten years and counting in Europe as a footballer and that is no mean feat in itself. This underlines the class of the man. Despite his conversion from a deadly striker to a no-nonsense right-back he remains one of our best football exports ever merely on consistency. Saphile Shivute was a relative success too. He played in Scotland for Motherwell and did well for Dalian Shide F.C in China. Ricardo Mannetti is still held in high esteem in Cape-Town after his exploits for Santos F.C. Ronnie Kanalelo is revered in the Mamelodi part of Pretoria for having been part of a very successful era in the history of their beloved team. Robert Nauseb won cups with Kaizer Chiefs in his prime, while Mohammed Ouseb is still regarded as one of the best defenders to have ever played for the Amakhozi. Sadly the Namibian export that used to have football pundits and fans across the world take notice is disappearing in submission. The class of ’98 was a special breed but perhaps the most injustice to Namibian football was that the most talented footballer of modern day Namibia never played abroad. Johannes Congo Hindjou had the rare gift that differentiates a good player from a great one. He could see things on the football pitch before they happen. Congo had vision and who will ever forgot the warm night in Boubo Dialaso, January 1998, when he tore Ivory Coast apart and Namibia almost staged the mother of all comebacks, only to succumb to a late winner after drawing level from a three goal deficit. There are a couple of Namibian players registered in the Premier Soccer League (PSL) in South Africa but none of the current crop has had any major impact to date. Sidney Plaatjies won the Nedbank Cup with Moroka Swallows last season whilst on loan from Mamelodi Sundowns. The medals the others have won were promotion to the PSL from the Mvela League. Richard Gariseb won it with Wits University and last season the Jomo Cosmos contingent of George Hummel, Lazarus Kaimbi, Wycliff Kambonde and Zico Paulus repeated the feat. Henrico Botes who was almost unplayable in the domestic league before he headed south is in and out of the team at Platinum Stars. Quinton Jacobs was highly rated but he played for very unfashionable teams and those were very short stints to gauge his impact. Rudi Louw, Dumisa Jantze, Freedom Puriza, Ivan Namaseb and Costa Khaiseb played for FC AK in the Mvela Golden League. Michael Pienaar almost won promotion with Carara Kicks. Hartman Toromba is playing in Mvela with Vasco da Gama after spells with Black Leopards and Free Stars in the PSL.Louw is back in Mvela League with a Cape Town team. Paulus ‘Wire’ Shipanga is at Bay United in the the same league. Now the million-dollar question is, has the quality of the Namibian export declined or is the PSL a step too high for our players?Rudolf Bester ruled Namibian football for the past three seasons (barring his short spell in Serbia) and duly got his chance this season to campaign in the PSL. ‘Barnes’ as he is known has the responsibility to make right and it would perhaps be an exercise in futility to encompass the essence that he has to play in order to give rise to the stock of the Namibian player. Barnes has skill, pace, strength and an eye for goal. Not so long ago he took the DRC national team on a merry go round. So the ingredients are there for a Namibian football player to take the PSL by storm and let’s hope Bester restores the credibility of the Namibian export.This will definitely pave the way for South African clubs to look to their ‘Love Child’ when looking for talent, provided Bester sets the scene alight and doesn’t falter to deceive. – gazna8@yahoo.com