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Home / A Tribute to Wilfred Saul Coetzee 1983 - 2016
A Tribute to Wilfred Saul Coetzee 1983 - 2016
2016-02-05Staff Report 2 Okahandja – A bullish centre forward, Saul Coetzee is a product from the Garden Town and was born in Okahandja on the 4th July 1983. Young Saul was football crazy and would play football at the slightest provocation. His genes dictated that he would be a footballer. After all, his late uncle Kapagurua “Gorilla” Kapepu, was a noted shot-stopper with Orlando Pirates’ second strings back in the day when teams in the lower division competed fiercely in knockout tournaments in the absence of organized league structures. Strangely, Saul never played competitive football for any of the local clubs in his hometown and only started chasing the inflated remnants of a ruminant at the Neudam Training College, situated East of Namibia’s commercial capital Windhoek as a burly teenager. His goals always proved to be the difference for his club Rolling Stars in the popular social but highly competitive knockout tourneys. He was to be spotted by talent scouts from Katutra giants Black Africa while featuring in one of the bush tournaments. The strongly built forward immediately made an impact and became an integral part of the Gemengde based outfit, playing alongside Jerome Louis, where he was to enjoy unsurpassed success with the record four times Namibian champions. Saul was the club’s top scorer and became the toast and envy of many football followers as he rattled the opposition’s net at will with powerful shots. After five solid seasons in the famous black and red stripes of Black Africa – the bullish forward jumped ship to join forces with boyhood team Orlando Pirates in 2006. His direct style of play drew the attention of talent scouts from across Namibian borders and it came as no surprise when he was offered a chance to showcase his football talent in Europe. Saul had stints with less known football clubs in the German lower leagues between 2007 and 2008 before he resurfaced at South African Professional Soccer League (PSL) Jomo Cosmos in neigbouring South Africa, under the shrewd tutelage of the great Ephraim Matshilile “Jomo” Sono. The likeable humorous bulky forward passed on in a Windhoek hospital after a short illness and will be laid to rest in his native town Okahandja, at the Saint Peters Catholic Church tomorrow morning @ 07h00. The burial will be preceded by a night Virgil at the family’s residence in Nau-Aib 19h00. May his soul rest in eternal peace. He leaves behind his beautiful spouse Charlene Minnaar-Coetzee and son Saul Jr. 2016-02-05Staff Report 2
