Former star defender now tax advisor

Although he prefers to live a very quiet life today, there is no denying former Chief Santos and Black Africa defence stalwart Eric ‘Omes’ Aoseb is one of the country’s most-decorated players.

Born and bred at Tsumeb, where he first caught the eye of local Far Northern First Division outfit Rangers before he was snapped up by Namibian cup kings Chief Santos in 1997, Aoseb won almost every cup available in local football.

A product of Otjikoto Secondary School where he was coached by his former teacher Lance Haauanga, Aoseb came a very long way from his days at Nomtsoub Primary School to play at some of the best stadiums around the southern African region.

Explains Aoseb: “I started playing football seriously when I joined Rangers, who were playing in the second division at the time in 1995. I alternated between the central defence and the lock positions at the time. I was mostly playing lock in the school team.

“However, my fortunes turned around for the better when I became a Namibian Premier League player with Chief Santos in 1997. I mostly played as a left-back for Santos until our coach Max ‘Zoda Five’ Johnson roped me into the libero position as a replacement.”

The soft-spoken star explains that Santos had suspended the regular libero Wallace Doeseb just before playing against Tigers in the NFA Cup at Walvis Bay. Aoseb says he only had a week to train in that position before that game, and the rest is history.

He went on to star during that final encounter, which saw the Copper Town Boys prevail 1-nil as well as cementing a regular place in the team in the libero’s position where he went on to score many goals.

Aoseb enjoyed a very successful spell with Santos, winning the NFA Cup, Metropolitan Cup, Castle Classic, while he was also named the Namibian Premier League’s most disciplined player of the year in 1999.

Aoseb, who describes himself as a committed and dedicated player in his heyday, played his last match for Santos against Angolan giants Primeiro Agosto in the African Cup Winners’ Cup group match, which saw the Namibians bowing out to their more fancied opponents.

To their credit, Santos held the visitors to a 1-1 draw in Tsumeb, thanks to Aoseb’s head goal, before they were beaten in the return leg in Luanda.

His excellent showing in the colours of Santos caught the attention of one Hendrick ‘Hennie’ Davids, who lured him to play for Blue Waters at Walvis Bay, albeit only for six months.

However, at least he collected an NFA Cup runners-up medal with the coastal giants.

The towering defender headed to the capital city where he joined Namibian cup kings Black Africa with whom he continued growing his medal haul with two NFA Cup, a Sam Nujoma Cup while adding two personal accolades – the club’s joint top goalscorer and the player of the year awards between 2003 and 2006.

His football journey then took him on a six-month stint with SKW, who were campaigning in the Namibian Premier League at the time.

He did not last at SKW, as he reconnected with former Blue Waters boss Hendrick Davids, this time at Orlando Pirates in Windhoek.

The trek to Pirates turned out to be very successful, as it provided Aoseb the only trophy he did not win in his decorated football career – the league championship in 2007/8.

He also added the Pirates sportsman of the year gong to his name in the same year.

Aoseb also attracted the attention of the national team selectors and it came as no surprise when he was roped into the Brave Warriors squad by Zambian coach Ben Bamfuchile to engage Angola in a Cosafa Castle Cup game in Luanda in 2005.

Then followed other call-ups against Botswana, Lesotho and Zimbabwe – all in the Cosafa Castle Cup tournament.

“My exploits in the Cosafa Cup were noticed by people beyond the borders of the country, including Silver Stars in the South African Castle Premier League. I, together with Freddy Kauzu and Steve Maphosa, were invited for trials by the Durban-based outfit,” he noted.

“We went to Durban with the renowned Namibian player agent Colin April but I didn’t get enough time to try and impress Stars coach Owen da Gama because I had to come back to Namibia in a hurry because my leave days had expired.”

Aoseb said he was already working at the ministry of finance at the time and he had to choose between staying on for trials in South Africa or coming back to Windhoek to work.

He married Vabiola Aoses at Arandis in 2010 and the couple is blessed with four children (three boys and one girl).

A normal day for Aoseb, who lives in Rehoboth with his family, starts with a prayer at 04h30, because he has to drive to Windhoek where he is working at the ministry of finance. He started working at the ministry of finance at Oshakati in 2004.

“I’ve worked in many departments in the finance ministry since day one. I was also a cash officer at one point before I moved to the auditing [department] where I did invoice updates and sent out letters for tax recoveries of individuals and companies,” he explains.

“Taxation is a problem and hundreds of people are always coming to our office for queries. Some people are understanding and patient, but most clients are very angry and they don’t want to listen to [any] reasoning.”

He points out that working in the customer care office of the ministry is very difficult and difficult customers made it worse.

Apart from his daily job, Aoseb and his wife are part-time farmers in the Banhoff and Brandberg areas.

Aoseb, who is currently a member of the Orlando Pirates Legends team, says he is happy with what he has achieved in his football career.

He advises young players not to allow people with bad influences in their lives “you must have a vision of what you want to achieve and stay disciplined on and off the field. Always listen to good advice and do away with friends and teammates with bad influences.”