Carlos Kambaekwa
7 November 2008
column
Ever wondered where all these juicy names of footballers from the coast come from? Well! Your guess is as good as mine - you name it! Riva, Ranga, Moripe, Britto, Sadike, Lemmy, Bonetti, Lohmeier, Zondi, Webster, Bazooka ... the list is endless.
A sizeable chunk of would-be soccer stars in the Kuisebmond enclave were dreaming big time and had their role models, and if that was not enough - christened names disappeared into thin air and made way for their heroes' names, which got stuck up to this day.
In years gone by - there was this young and stocky goal-poacher going by the name of Herbert "Shorty" Lohmeier. He confirmed his status as one of South West Africa's rising stars when he was chosen to represent the country in the first ever multi-racial team at the annual provincial Currie Cup competition in South Africa in 1977.
Born and bred in the tourist attraction coastal town of Swakopmund, "Shorty" started honing his football skills at the town's old soccer field, just a stone's throw from the Mole where the tennis courts are now situated.
Ask any footballer of yesteryear about the current state of Namibian football and they will tell you without any hesitation that Independence came a bit too late.
Former footballers feel the standard is way below par as opposed to the days when they graced the dusty football pitches around the length and width of this country.
The 54-year old "Shorty" is amongst a rare breed of footballers who tormented opposing defenders and entertained the crowd with some breathtaking pace and a goal-scoring prowess second to none - in the real sense of the beautiful game.
His flourishing football career took him to several top clubs around the country, but it was at Ramblers where Shorty made his mark and enjoyed unsurpassed success with the star studded line-up that included captain fantastic Hugh "Bobby" Craddock, Werner "Sexy" Sasse, Karl-Heinz "Steni" Steinfurth, Gunter Hellinghausen, Don Corbett, Hasso Ahrens and Jeff Marting, amongst a horde of talented footballers.
The ace striker also had stints with the Swakopmund Futball Club (SFC), Sport Klub Windhoek (SKW) and was a regular member of the Currie Cup Eleven.
Shorty was born in Swakopmund in 1954, but his approach towards the beautiful game took a dramatic turn during his primary school years in Karibib where he discovered that he had the natural ability to juggle a soccer ball with the precision of a seasoned butcher.
"At Karibib we played sport everyday - you will play soccer, then volleyball, fustball you name it we played sport everyday, you had to play with the ball," recalls Shorty.
Herbert's soccer career can be described as the perfect example of early talent identification. During his infant years as a footballer, young Shorty went through all the youth structures until he reached the level of seniority.
"Those early experiences build up your confidence which is very important for future endeavours," he said.
Aged 12 in 1966 and barely out of his pair of shorts, Herbert got his first medal for his school team when his well taken brace sent Centaurus packing in a schools tournament to lift the trophy.
During those years, teachers took note of the young German lad's ability with the spherical object.
He consistently made the school teams all through the ranks as from the Under-14 age group right up to the Under-18 level, where he featured prominently in the annual popular Sam Cohen Tourney at Swakopmund.
In 1970, Herbert represented the South West Africa Under-16 team that went to play in the provincial tournament against the South Africa Under-16 province teams.
Between 1971 and 1973, Herbert donned the green and black outfit of Swakopmund Football Club (SFC), carving a name for himself. It was not long before he joined the ranks of the blue and white strips at Ramblers, where he rubbed shoulders with the likes of Heinz Stein, Neil Greef and Ken Howard.
Herbert recalled exceptional memories during his playing days with Rammies where the "Tunchel Street Boys" found themselves in the company of great teams in the mould of Black Africa, which housed a star-studded line-up with the likes of the late Albert "Boetie" Louw, African Stars with Namibia's finest footballer of his generation Oscar "Silver Fox" Mengo as well as Orlando Pirates.
Herbert narrates how they always lured the Katutura giants into technical traps, much to the dismay of their opponents.
"At the beginning, we used to catch them off guard with the offside rule, and they would always complain bitterly that they were not offside - especially African Stars, we used to trick them with the offside trap.
"The balls we used in those days were heavier than today's balls and were made of genuine leather, either 7-balls or zigzag-balls - the zigzag-ball was the more popular type.
"Our style of play was totally different. The ball travelled much higher than it does in the modern game and in the extreme, the right full back would pass over to the left wing and he will in turn deliver a high quality ball to the middle for the twin centre forwards to use their heads and score goals."
However, the dominance of white teams was short-lived when African Stars acquired the services of a German expatriate coach Dieter Widmann, who showed the talented but raw footballers the finer points of the beautiful game.
Although Herbert had scored many goals during his playing days with Ramblers, SKW and SFC, his fondest memory is a 16-meter scorcher he hit while playing for the South West Africa Currie Cup Eleven.
"We were playing against Northern Transvaal in Durban in the Currie Cup semi-final. I took aim towards the goalpost, it was a beautiful shot and was goal-bound.
"An old friend of mine one Reinhard Egner, a defender for the Northern Transvaal team, back-deflected the ball away with his head out of the goalmouth. As the ball flew over the crossbar he hit the ground and lay there for a while - I would never forgive him for that," said Herbert.
The 54-year old, now running an exclusive men's outfitters shop in Swakopmund, was one of very few selected players who played in the first ever multi-racial South West Africa Curie Cup side in East London, South Africa, alongside Hugh "Bobby" Craddock, Celle Ochurub, Willy Rwida, Lionel "Boet" Mathews, Julius "Manne" Hagendoorn, Sammy Alfheim, Wolfgang Fleischammel, Bethuel "Ace" Tjirera, Siggy Anderson, Don Renzke, Gunter Hellinghausen and Benjamin "Doc" Naobeb, whom he described as a quality player with the rare ability of an all-rounder.
Shorty credits Oscar "Silver Fox" Mengo as the greatest footballer to have graced the football fields of Namibia in years gone by. He strongly believes the current generation won't be anywhere close to footballers of yesteryear. "You must live for your sport, respect the people and be disciplined," charged Shorty.
On the current state of Namibian football, Herbert believes Namibia should make a habit of scouting for talent from an early age, citing the example of the Brave Warriors class of 1998, which graduated through the ranks from the Under-17 throughout the national team.
"Look for talent in every aspect of youth development and invest more money in the youth. We can put talented youths in a school with proper education and a good coach - if we are to see our football progressing," concludes Shorty.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 New Era. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
