Former Chelsea and Orlando Pirates livewire striker Steven Damaseb, was one of the star performers for the Brave Warriors during the infant years of Namibia’s admission to international football (Fifa) after the country gained independence from the South African apartheid regime in 1990.
The Grootfontein-born lad led an irrepressibly enthusiastic bunch of raw footballers into the tough and demanding rigours of international football when Namibia celebrated her just gained independence at the packed to rafters Windhoek Stadium (now Independence Stadium) with a variety of entertainment events, including the historic football exhibition match between the Brave Warriors and the Zimbabwean national team. In this interview with New Era Sports, Madigage as Steven came to be known in football circles opens up about his experience playing alongside elder brother Orlando, cousins Pieces and Pele Damaseb. He also reveals how he improved after joining Katutura giants Orlando Pirates FC and also the reason why he struggled to make an immediate impact in the star-studded Chelsea outfit during the formative years of his promising football career.
WINDHOEK – Steven Damaseb was your typical old-fashioned centre forward in the real sense of the word. An exciting and promising footballer, young Steven proved a menace and a tough nut to crack for opposing defenders – courtesy of his uncompromising and aggressive style of play and a good nose for rattling the net. He is a product of Grootfontein-based Chelsea FC, doubtlessly the most exciting football entity to have emerged from this country before and post-independence and is a descendant of the highly gifted football crazy Damaseb clan. After testing his god-given football skills against other promising young footballers in the dusty streets of Omlulunga Township in Grootfontein during his young days, Steven was laterally thrown into the lions’ den when he joined Chelsea at the young age of 13.
Many aspiring footballers would have cherished the chance to rub shoulders with some of the country’s finest footballers, let alone share the same field with their more celebrated elder siblings and cousins. However, the young lethal goal poacher was placed under the microscope as he was expected to perform at the highest level and having to match the exploits of elder brother Orlando and the shooting prowess of his trigger-happy cousins Pieces and the late Dr Pele Damaseb pound for pound, an exercise that essentially stalled his progress. “When I arrived at Chelsea as a raw school boy, it was not easy to enjoy regular game time, because the club had hopelessly too many great athletes such as the Francis brothers Richo and Tiger, Ruru Naobeb, Dave Ameb, George Nawatiseb, Elvis Tsandib, Orlando and Pieces Damaseb and Elvis Castanova amongst a horde of great and committed footballers under the tutelage of teacher Ellis Uwanga,” recalls Steven with his boyish looks.
He gradually worked his way into the club’s first team and was later the team’s first choice upon the pre-mature retirement of the old guard who all turned their back on the game that had made them famous. Almost the entire Chelsea playing personnel felt shortchanged after they were controversially beaten by Black Africa in the final of the Mainstay Cup at the Windhoek Showground in 1982. Ageing match official Arnulf Schmidt awarded the Katutura outfit a highly disputed spot kick, which proved to be the game changer with Chelsea firmly in the driving seat up to that decisive moment. The club was left to the mercy of the tiny shoulders of Steven to steer the sinking ship out of troubled waters – a task that he managed to accomplish with mixed results, as he led the new generation at Chelsea players to two major finals in knockout cup tourneys in the maize triangle of Grootfontein, Otavi and Tsumeb. “We reached two cup finals and lost both of them against Blue Waters and Orlando Pirates respectively.”
Steven teamed up with the equally dangerous Boeta Mungunda in the revamped Chelsea strike force and went on to form a telepathic combination with the stocky Mariental born striker. The lethal pair terrorized defenders with their silky skills and they spearheading the fearless Chelsea attack. It was during his time at the Parisis Secondary School in Otjiwarongo that Steven started to showcase amazing skills on the football field. He was selected for the Namibia National Soccer League (NNSL) invitational team that featured in exhibition matches against the visiting Ace Mates, Bush Bucks (Durban) and the Birds from Johannesburg, South Africa in 1986. “It was a great honour to rub shoulders with established footballers such as the late Ace Ntsoelengoe, Aubrey Makgopela, Ben Ntuli, Samuel ‘Happy Cow’ Nkomo, Congo Malebane, Mlungisi Ngubane, Benett Gondwe, Jan ‘Malombo’ Lechaba and Daniel Ramarutsi,” chuckles the former Ghosts sharp shooter. Steven joined Orlando Pirates at the invitation of former Ghosts midfield maestro Axab Gowaseb and legendary centre back Steve ‘Kalamazoo’ Stephanus in 1988.
The switch to the city of lights turned out to be a good career move for the goal hungry striker. His uncompromising style earned him the admiration of his teammates, including the opposition who subsequently gave him the nickname ‘Madigage’, christened after the late former Jomo Cosmos, Manchester City starlet and Bafana Bafana assistant coach Thomas ‘Chincha Guluva’ Madigage. His arrival at Pirates coincided with the enforced retirement through a career ending injury of the Ghosts’ blue-eyed boy Norries Goraseb and the inevitable departure of the club’s most valuable asset, the late Doc Hardley, who hung up his togs as a result of age. The latter’s astonishing 39-year old goal scoring record of 9 goals netted in a single match remains intact in the history of the South African Professional Soccer League (PSL). Steven’s virtuosity on the playing field led the Buccaneers to triumphs in the Novel Ford and Metropolitan Cup finals as he formed a deadly combination with Jorries Afrikaner under the stewardship of stalwarts Ambrosius Vyff, Frans Kazimbu, Brian Greaves, Samora Appolus, Paul ‘Gawarib’ Uirib and African Areseb. After a successful stint with the Buccaneers, Steven retreated to his adopted hometown Otjiwarongo and joined unfashionable Premier League outfit Life Fighters in 1995.
He was among the very first bunch of local footballers to taste international football when he was selected for the Brave Warriors against the visiting Zimbabwe senior football team during Namibia’s historic independence celebrations in 1990. The 48-year old Steven still cherishes fond memories of his formative years with Chelsea FC and let out that playing alongside one’s siblings was no mean feat. “Truth be told, I was still very young when I joined Chelsea and found myself surrounded by great athletes such as the Francis brothers Richo and Tiger, while the fans expected me to perform at the same high level as my elder brother Orlando and cousin Pieces, who were both exceptional footballers. Orlando was quick off the mark, tricky and possessed good dribbling skills while he also packed a decent shot in both feet. Pieces was a dead ball specialist and could strike the ball with mean ferocity from any distance, I’m yet to see a player with the same qualities in the game today.” Unlike dozens of former retired footballers who have fallen on bad times upon retirement, Steven is very much aware of the pitfalls and has acted swiftly to escape the life of a beggar after football. The self-employed former striker owns a clearing company that deals in exports and import at Walvis Bay and keeps fit by playing social football on a regular basis with Atlantis Football Club. Although there was no money during his playing days, he has no regrets over his involvement with the beautiful game and still has fond memories of his playing days notably the tough derbies against traditional rivals Black Africa. Steven regards former African Stars hard tackling defender Vemuna Hoveka, as the player who gave him the most sleepless nights during his playing career. “I think Namibia has what it takes to go all the way and become a major force to be reckoned with in continental football if we can get our act together. The country’s authorities should get serious and set up proper development structures to nurture future stars, because as it stands there are no proper youth structures in place which is testimony to the inability of the Brave Warriors to unearth a natural left back. And you may recall this has been a longstanding Achilles heel for our senior national football team, while there appears to be no solution in sight for this worrisome problem.”
By Carlos Kambaekwa