I had a long chat with him…
On the untimely demise of Oshwin Andries
First of all, I want t o t hank Socce r Laduma for giving us t his opportunity to talk about Oshwin Andrie s. His passing has shocke d all of us. My first me mory of him was whe n we first bought t he club and at t he t ime , he was st ill a 15-ye arold in our acade my. I we nt down t o wat ch t he t rials – I looke d at t he boy and I t hought t o myse lf, “Ok, he is st ill rough around t he e dge s, but wow, what a stride he has on him.” He was just ve ry athle tic whe n he had t he ball and we nt past playe rs – he looke d amazing. I we nt t o our yout h coache s and I said, “I t hink I found t he ne x t Pat rick Vie ira.” Be ing an Arse nal fan all my life , I re me mbe r Pat rick Vie ira at t he prime of his care e r – he was just t all and skilful and I calle d this little boy ‘my Patrick Vieira’ since t he n. Whe n coach (Ve llios) Evange los joine d us, I said t o him, “Ple ase look out for this boy, he is coming through our U18 ranks”, and you know t he st ory from t he re . That was my ve ry first me mory of “Ossie ”. I t hought he was a gre at foot balle r in t he making. It wasn’t all shiny and a comple t e pict ure ye t, but it was some natural abilit y off t he ball and on t he ball at hle t ically, which re ally e x cit e d me . As a pe rson, he was ve ry kind and humble . He kne w what he want e d, which could have be e n const rue d some t ime s as arrogance , but I t hink all the top athletes and football playe rs ne e d a lit t le bit of t hat in t he m. But de e p down, he was kind and a humble boy who wante d to do the right things. He re ally just love d foot ball. He want e d t o t rain and play all t he t ime .
On his dreams of moving to Europe
Ossie didn’t re ally t alk a lot , but obviously myse lf and coach St e ve (Barke r) e ncourage d him t o aspire to the greatest heights that he could, just like we t e ll all ot he r young playe rs at t he club. Eve n if t hat me ans moving t o anot he r club in South Africa, have a change of sce ne ry or cont inue wit h your development. We tell them that, “Hope fully some of you are st riving t o play in Europe e ve n highe r.” He was de finit e ly one of t hose playe rs. At his age , had t he opport unit y arose , we would have se nt him t o Europe and that was going to pote nt ially happe n in t he ne x t ye ar or ye ar-and-a-half. His big dre am was t o play in Europe . He was such a humble playe r and e ve n whe n he be came the younge st e ve r goalscore r in t he PSL, it ne ve r we nt int o his he ad, he was just so happy t hat he could cont ribut e t o t he t e am and be an e x ample t o ot he r young pe ople . He came from a disadvant age d background in Klapmut s and he spoke a lot about want ing t o be a be t t e r pe rson, not just a foot balle r, and t o give hope t o ot he r lit t le boys. It was quit e ironic, I had a long chat with him on Thursday, two days be fore he passe d away – he was t alking about want ing t o do be t t e r and show ot he r lit t le boys t hat t he y must not give up on t he ir dre ams. If you think of it – I know it’s so sad that he has passe d – but I’m glad I had t he chance t o t alk t o him and e x plain t o him t hat he has alre ady inspire d a lot of young pe ople . If we look at just what he did in the last 18 months, for me he has be e n one of t he e arly t railblaze rs for our club. He came through our acade my, move d t o our Diski (Challe nge ) t e am, won it (t he le ague ), went to UK, won the Next Gen tourname nt and score d a ‘David Be ckham goal’ from t he halfway line . He got int o t he PSL, made a profe ssional de but against Orlando Pirate s and won Man of the Match, playe d at ce ntre -back against Royal AM and score d a goal, whe re he carrie d through (from the ) halfway line be fore playing a one -t wo wit h Junior Me ndie t a be fore scoring. Those are ve ry spe cial mome nt s which happe ne d in t he last 18 mont hs. We will re me mbe r him for many ye ars t o come .
On his reaction to the sad news
I re garde d him as one of my sons and I’ve be e n fort unat e t o wit ne ss him through the ranks. It wasn’t always e asy. We use d t o t alk long hours with some of the coache s about how we we re going t o ge t some of t he younge r playe rs t o t he PSL one day. At one st age , we said t his boy had t o come t hrough and he just ke pt on improving. Whe n I he ard t he ne ws (about his passing), it was almost a disbe lie f. I t hought t o myse lf t he y must have he ard wrong be cause I saw him on Thursday. It’s still de vastating. I don’t want t o be lie ve it , but it ’s t rue and we have t o ge t on wit h life and make sure we le arn, t ake t he best from this unfortunate situation. I have some of the fond me morie s of him as a playe r. The way t hat he de ve lope d in t he Diski side and le d us int o what we won last se ason, the final against Le ice st e r Cit y… it was unbe lie vable . His de but for us against Orlando Pirate s, I was in te ars be cause he was a boy t hat we want e d t o succe e d. Eve n t he (MTN8) game we lost t o Kaize r Chie fs on pe nalt ie s at t he be ginning of t he se ason, in front of a packe d st adium, he came t o me afte rwards and said, “This is what we worke d for.” It was just wonde rful and some of t he spe ct at ors we re asking, “Who is t he numbe r 25?” The y couldn’t stop talking about him. He showe d his pot e nt ial t o more pe ople out side St e lle nbosch. He manage d t o sque e ze his way int o t he U20 nat ional t e am. He we nt t he re and capt aine d t he t e am and t hat was not planne d. The y just made him capt ain be cause of his nat ure – he was a winne r. He love d winning and I think the y saw that in him. Whe n t he y we re 1-0 be hind, he re que ste d the coach to play him high up in midfie ld inst e ad of ce nt re -back be cause he want e d t o t ake the game by the scruff of the ne ck and he we nt and score d t wo goals and we nt back t o de fe nce and t he y won the game . He was that type of a playe r who could add value at t he front or back. Some one t hat you want e d on your side . And t hose me morie s will live wit h me fore ve r. He gave e ve ryt hing t hat he had and none us kne w t hat his life would be cut short .