allAfrica.com: Namibia: Inside the Aged - Namibia's Special Export to City of Gold (Page 1 of 2)

It's not every now and then that one would find young footballers adopting the name of the legendary Edson Arantes Donascimento alias "Pele".

So far, Namibia has had quite a few footballers going by that famous name but three names immediately spring to mind - the trio of Hermann "Pele" Blaschke, Pius "Pele" Eigowab also known as Garrincha, and the late Doctor Pieter "Pele" Damaseb, were exceptional footballers in their own right and certainly lived up to the demands of their top billing.

However, Blaschke was a phenomenal footballer who mesmerized opposing defenders at will during his heydays with Swakopmund-based outfit Atlanta Chiefs, where he formed a deadly combination with the bow-legged Ruben "Ruby" Kamulu in the late sixties.

Other footballers of note who had the privilege of playing alongside Pele in the star-studded Atlanta Chiefs lineup were Gabes Masilo, Efraim Hangala and Hanga Namupala.

From the moment young Pele started kicking plastic footballs in the streets of the notorious Laeveld Section of Khomasdal - a previously reserved township for the coloured community - Pele showed talent belying his tender age and soon found himself playing for Khomasdal's glamour football club Thistles.

Young Pele rubbed shoulders with Fritzie Poulton, Edward "Nose" Morgenroth and younger brother Gustav "Ou Reus" Blaschke and had sporadic stints with Flames (guest player) and Black Africa where he cut his teeth with the likes of Benjamin "Spokes" Tibinyane, Bethuel "Five" Hochbeb, Corrie Uri-Khob, Stu Damaseb, Pius Eigowab and the late Albert "Boetie" Louw.

But it was at Atlanta Chiefs where Pele made his name when the team was playing in the then popular annual Easter Tournament in the Copper Town of Tsumeb, way back in 1969.

"At the time, the legendary Percy 'Chippa' Moloi came to Namibia at the invitation of Chief Santos, under the leadership of the late Herbert Conradie, and oh boy we played the match of our lives against the hosts, and the fans went as far as requesting a rematch to which we duly obliged," recalls Pele with a twinkle in his ageing eyes.

"That was an exhibition match second to none and I was even requested to exchange sides with Moloi who was playing for Santos."

Pele's big break was as a result of public demand after the South West Africa Invitation Eleven was given a thorough roasting by the visiting Kaizer Eleven at a packed to rafters Katutura stadium in Windhoek in 1969.

The fans demanded the inclusion of Atlanta Chiefs' terrible twins Pele and Ruby, prompting football officials retreating to Swakopmund after darkness had already set in to fetch the pair in a desperate effort to salvage some lost pride.

"We should have been in that team in the first place, but you know mos football politics in those days, because our initial exclusion had nothing to do with our playing ability, it was more location-wise since we were not from the city of lights (Windhoek).

"We played against Kaizer Eleven on the Sunday and convincingly beat them - I think the final score line was 3 - 1 with me scoring a scorcher that beat my good friend Joseph 'Banks' Sethlodi hands down. That team had very good players such as Martin 'Sika' Williams, Tommy Uushona, Benjamin 'Spokes' Tibinyane, Ismael 'Lemmy' Narib, Eddy Cloete and the late dribbling wizard Timo Mwetuyela."

After that, the South West Invitational Eleven was invited to tour South Africa for several friendlies against top South African sides in the mould of Giant Aces, Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Eleven.

"We were very tired upon arrival after travelling the long journey by train and lost heavily against Kaizer Eleven - 5 goals to 1 - in our second match but managed to recover in the next game where we beat Orlando Pirates by 3 goals to 1. Lemmy, Timo and Tomy played a blinder in that match and myself and Lemmy were signed straight away by the late Ewert 'the Lip' Nene who had an incredible eye for talent."

The 21-year old Pele returned to Namibia to bid farewell to his family and friends but his romance with the Soweto glamour football club was delayed.

"You know what happened . " Laughs "I chopped the money that Chiefs had given me to pay for my air ticket and it took some bravery from Kaizer Motaung to come over here and drag me along to Johannesburg. Soon afterwards, Oscar 'Silver Fox' Mengo and Pius 'Garrincha' Eigowab also joined us at Chiefs."

Pele reckons Mengo could have made the grade at Chiefs had he not become homesick, and his wife Jenny quickly chips in. "Daai ene was baie stil and wou net heeldag geslaap het. Yes I vividly remember him as a very good boy and I really liked him a lot."

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