BIMBO Tjihero will be remembered as the player who left legendary South African goalie Brian Baloyi grasping thin air as his fiercely struck free-kick sailed past the hapless Bafana Bafana goal tender to record a famous 3-2 win for Namibia against South Africa in 1998.
The victory was one of the standout performances of the Brave Warriors since independence, taking place in an electrifying atmosphere at Windhoek’s Independence Stadium on 24 January 1998.
Tjihero won 37 caps for the Brave Warriors between 1994 to 1999, and also represented his nation at the 1998 African Cup of Nations in Burkina Faso.
Tjihero hails from a great football playing family headed by Albert, who rates amongst the greatest defenders ever to come out of our country. Albert played and captained the pre-independence national team, during an illustrious era in which he also starred for the all-conquering African Stars FC.
Then there is the powerful Jamanuka who was an integral cog in the African Stars midfield before the three brothers caused a major shock by dumping their beloved Stars to co-found the exciting Liverpool FC at their home town of Okahandja.
The hard-tackling Tjihero is considered as one the finest captains of the Brave Warriors and he was a very influential central defender for both club and country during his playing days, before he finally hung up his boots in 2000.
It is a fact that his presence in the Liverpool defence contributed immensely to the rock solid backline of the unmatched success of the Liverpool outfit in the 90’s.
Tjihero sat down with The Namibian Sport to answer questions about his whereabouts after he quit playing football more than two decades ago.
“Since I retired from football in 2000 with my home team Liverpool and at national team level, I did not involve myself in any football activities because, being part of the class of 98 some of us were seen as football activists (rebels) while we were addressing the principles of equal rights and justice when it comes to the unjust treatment of players.
“If the football administrators do not show that they value you as a true flag bearer for football, who are you to question them for not involving you in their setup? If you are a principled person and you address them accordingly, you will be ignored for getting into Namibian football.”
Commercial farming at Hochfeld
He has since been involved in commercial farming in the Hochfeld/Summer Down area and simultaneously, is still a full-time employee of the Namibia Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) as the head of their sales department.
A normal day for him always starts with a positive attitude, which, according to him is to create regular and consistent daily patterns, to take one through the day. He explained that he always starts small to get big results.
And what are his responsibilities as head of sales at NBC?
“My responsibilities as head of sales of the national broadcaster entails developing key growth sales strategies for the sales department and to oversee the successful execution of those strategies, in order to achieve the departmental financial set targets.
“Also, my primary role is to lead the sales department of the corporation, while overseeing activities of the sales team through planning and budgeting and to analyse trends and results in the markets both locally, as well as internationally,” he noted.
Talking about the biggest challenges he faces in his job, the former football star said that the common challenges he always faces in his job is to find the right people, getting response from prospects and “competing in an overcrowded market.”
Who was the biggest influence in his football career and who was his toughest opponent?
“The biggest influence in my football career was my late father Festus Tjihero who used to play for Black Beauty FC of Okahandja, followed by my brothers Albert and Jamanuka Tjihero, who inspired me to play football.
“Outside my family, my biggest influencers were the two Uumati brothers at the heart of the Tigers FC defence, uncle Gray and Kuumi. They still remain my favourites. The toughest opponents I faced were the late Teenage Iyambo and the tough nut Karumendo Hiiko (both of Tigers) and Stroh Naruseb of Namib Woestyn.”
A proud father
Bimbo is a proud father of four children – made up of three daughters and one boy. He said his oldest daughter Sandra is 25 years old, Chelzy is 21, and Sasha is 17, while the last born boy Fessy Bimbo Tjihero is 12 years old.
Who is the naughty one and who is more like him and what attributes of him do they have?
“The naughty one is Sandra, my oldest daughter – she is a very funny young woman. The boy Fessy Bimbo is more like me, because of the name and he can play football too.
“We enrolled him already with the Hopsol Soccer Academy which is run by my former Brave Warriors teammate Collin Benjamin. He is also playing together with Benjamin’s son for the DTS u13 soccer team.
How does he balance his work and farming with his life as a father and a farmer?
“Being a part time farmer is very tough, because you need more time to attend to all the farmers activities and challenges and to only do it over the weekend just does not work.”
While responding to a question of what his biggest challenges of being a farmer are, Tjihero said that to cope with climate change, soil erosion and to invest into farm productivity with scarce resources are huge challenges.
He added that the biggest concern of every farmer right now is the inadequate support from the government when it comes to agriculture in our country.
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