Namibia has a special pool of players who have represented the country at all the age group levels, all the way to the senior national team, and former Life Fighters, Eleven Arrows and Ramblers marauding winger Charlie Aoseb is one of them.
Born and raised at Otjiwarongo, Aoseb started to play organised football for Karundu Primary School in 1994.
“I first got exposed to league football when I turned out for the under-10 team of Okarundu at the age of nine under coach Abes Nghipundjua. . . I have always been a winger either on the right or left,” Aoseb says.
“When I went to Paresis Secondary School, I was selected for the Namibian Schools Sports Union (NSSU) under-17 team that played in the African Youth Cup qualifiers in 2000. But the exciting moment came when I upgraded to the under-19 side.”
The team went on a training camp in Westphalia, Germany, in 2002, before they went on to engage youths from other parts of the world in the Gothia Cup in Sweden and the Tivoli Cup in Denmark.
The former NSSU player took part in two Gothia World Youth Cup tournaments in 2001 and 2002, and played in one Tivoli Cup final which they lost 2-1 against Ghana in 2002.
Aoseb says his biggest football dream was to play for the national team, so he was excited when he was called up to the under-20 national team.
“I could not believe my ears when I was told by my school team coach Herman Katjiuongua that I made it to the under-20 side. There I joined up with other young stars like Rudi Louw, Riaan Cloete and the now-departed Franklin April and Patrick Jagger,” he says.
“We had a really strong team and our first assignment was to play in the Cosafa Under-20 Cup. We had a good tournament, which was contested in South Africa, but we came up against a well-drilled and strong Zimbabwean team that knocked us out of the tournament.”
Then came what he calls his dream moment when he was drafted into the star-studded under-23 side, also known as the Olympic Team, that went to play in a Four-Nations Tournament that included South Korea, Lesotho and hosts South Africa.
“It was real serious business because the under-23 team is generally considered as the reserve team of the senior national side. We did well in South Africa by beating South Africa in the opening with me scoring the only goal of the match and we drew against Lesotho.”
Aoseb say the defeat against their South Korean counterparts guaranteed them bronze medals as they finished third.
The under-23 team fielded stars like Hartman Toromba, Bobby Kaapama, Riaan Cloete, Nelson Akwenye, Nelson Geingob, Rudi Louw and goalie Pitso Tjihero.
Meanwhile, Aoseb was establishing himself as one of the most reliable players in the Life Fighters team campaigning in the Namibian Premier League at the time.
“We played above ourselves and we even surprised our opponents by reaching the Windhoek Lager NFA Cup against a fired Chief Santos, who handed us a thorough 4-2 defeat to claim the first prize and the trophy at our Mokati Stadium home at Otjiwarongo,” he says.
“We have lost the final but I finished the match by assisting both our goals. I would say that was by far my most memorable match in my entire football career.”
What seemed like a nightmare turned into his dream of playing for Namibia come true during a display that prompted former Brave Warriors coach Ted Dumitru calling him up to the senior national team.
Aoseb, who played equally well on the left-wing and right-wing, says he wants to be remembered as a disciplined, hardworking and committed player who always gave 120% for his team.
The winger joined coastal outfit Eleven Arrows for over six seasons before he joined Ramblers in the city.
“I must say that joining Ramblers was the best move I could have ever made. Apart from improving my overall game, the Ramblers management also made sure I secured my life after football by sending me to the Windhoek Vocational Training Centre,” he says. Aoseb qualified as a boilermaker.
“I played for Ramblers who had some of the best players in the country on their books. I can’t, however, not understand to this day why we did not win a single league title. We had Costa Kheiseb, Patrick Nkontwana, Chris Nauseb, Michael Pienaar and Arend von Stryk.”
He says with knowledgeable coaches like the late David Fransman, David Snewe and Tollie van Wyk who were complimented by Joseph Martin as team manager, the Rammies were expected to dominate Namibian football at the time.
Despite the many call-ups the Otjiwarongo-born star received, he only has one official cap with the Brave Warriors. The only other time he played for Namibia was against Lesotho during an international friendly in Maseru.
Aoseb’s biggest sporting regret is that he never won the league with any of the teams he played for, especially with the Ramblers.
The 44-year-old is currently playing in social tournaments and Old Crocks leagues with the powerful Aweh Aweh FC, which consists mostly of former Brave Warriors and other junior national team players. He, unfortunately, broke his leg during last weekend’s //Goa-!Haob Festival football tournament at Gobabis.
The former Arrows star, who married the mother of his four children, Gwen Aoses in 2012, is employed as a boilermaker by B2Gold Otjikoto Mine.
“I have been working at B2Gold for a solid 12 years now,” he says.
“I also do pipe welding, which is essential for constructing and maintaining piping systems that transport water, slurry or other materials. . . I repair and build piping systems with welding equipment.”
The former winger, known for his great level of discipline and hard work, advises young players to have realistic dreams of what they want to achieve in football, “starting from school, first division, premier league and national teams. Nothing in life is impossible,” he says.
