SApPriOl RIP Pieces:
Daniel Neumbo Damaseb 1956-2021 In loving memory of:
Uncle Paul Paul Modise 1946-2021
Tribute to Tostao: Willem Afrikaner 1955-2021
Exciting Grootfontein outfit Chelsea Football Club invaded the domestic football scene with breathtaking performance and became the toast of domestic football with their trademark style of playing attractive one touch carpet football, complemented by an avalanche of goals that arrived from all corners of the field.
The deadly quartet of the Francis brothers Erich and Tiger, Pieces and his cousin Orlando Damaseb, was a nightmare to many opposing defenders – let alone poor goalkeepers who finished their careers with disfigured fingertips trying to shield bullet like shots via the deadly boots of the Omulunga outfit’s devastating sharp-shooters.
Dear readers, excuse the pun but on a lighter note, we all at some stage have some unpleasant episodes in our life; Bro Pieces will go down in history as the only player to have occupied two contrasting different roles simultaneously in the same fixture.
Back in the day, finding impartial neutral match officials was very hard to come by – and when Katutura outfit Hungry Lions arrived in
Grootfontein for the crunch NSSL tie against hosts Chelsea in 1986, Bro Pieces, who did not make the match day squad, was clad in his civilian attire before he was fast-tracked to take the whistle.
By halftime, the ‘Brave Lions of Judah’ have taken a healthy twogoal cushion (2-0)... but shock was awaiting when the players trotted back to the field for the re-start; a new referee was about to take over proceedings as Bro Pieces resurfaced in a new identity of second
half substitute.
Despite heavy protests by the visiting team, the ref-cum-secondhalf-sub would go onto play the entire final 45 minutes. However, the fired up visitors held on for a hard fought 2-1 victory despite the home side being awarded a pair of highly disputed penalties in the marathon extended added time. Nonetheless, Chelsea went onto clinch the coveted NSSL title to be crowned Namibian champions in only the 2nd edition of the rebel National Super League (NSSL).
And while many of his celebrated teammates retired from the game prematurely following their double tragedy in consecutive finals of the coveted Mainstay Cup against Black Africa, citing unfair treatment, Pieces temporarily relocated to the city of bright lights. He wound off his astonishing football career with Katutura giant killers Hungry Lions.
Pieces also represented his motherland (SWA) in the annual prestigious South African InterProvincial Curie Cup in 1982. He won several high profile knockout cup tourneys, notably in the maize triangle with his beloved Chelsea. Pieces is rated the best dead ball specialist in the business.