2016-06-24Staff Report 2 "Windhoek Mohammed Ouseb, better known as ‘Slice’ amongst his vast circle of friends and acquaintances, was born on June 17, 1974. The name Slice was coined by his boyhood buddy and neighbour, Clive Gawanab, during the games in the dusty streets of Nomtsoub residential area in Tsumeb. Born and bred in the northern part of Namibia in the mining town of Tsumeb, approximately 400 km from Namibia’s commercial capital, Windhoek, Slice’s deceiving laidback style would cause many to take no interest or pay little attention to his presence on the field of play. In hindsight, he looked like somebody who could hardly harm a fly, but Slice showed a different character on the football pitch, fighting for every ball with genuine vigour like a man possessed. He was your typical modern box-to-box midfielder, the kind of player who could give any coach the pleasure of deploying him in any position on the field – in modern football referred to as zonal football. Like many other boys his age, Slice started kicking a football in the dusty streets of Tsumeb’s largest residential Nomtsoub. A mean athlete, he excelled in the short sprints on the athletic track and was also a formidable long jumper during his school days. Slice made his senior debut in topflight football with unfashionable Otjiwarongo outfit African Lions in a low-key knockout tournament as a guest player. Next stop was boyhood team Chief Santos FC. Here he spent a couple of matches on the substitutes’ bench as a 17 year old. After a few cameo roles for the star-studded Santos side, he was called up for the national Under-20 side that was to tour Swaziland, but the trip was called off. When Namibia hosted the Southern African Under-20’s Youth Championship in 1993, Slice was amongst a crop of raw youngsters called up by German coach Peter Uberhajn and his deputy Rusten Mogane. In the meantime, Slice managed to secure himself a starting berth with Santos and went on to win several trophies with the copper town lads, that included the coveted Windhoek Lager NFA Cup and the Castle Lager Cup. Playing as a midfielder in his early days, the tireless gap-toothed athlete would frequently join the attack. He could easily be mistaken for a striker whenever he ventured forward to encroach unannounced on the opposition’s penalty area. His arrival at boyhood outfit Chief Santos coincided with the team’s transformation era at the dawn of Namibia’s democracy in the early 90’s under the stewardship of former club stalwart Max ‘Zoda’ Johnson. The squad was a mixture of highly gifted young footballers and a few old guards with agile shot stopper Marcellus ‘Orde’ Uri-Khob, Ben Neib, Puli Subeb, Jan Xamseb and Engel Johnson leading the pack, blended with youngsters such as inspirational midfield kingpin Lucky Kakuva, Gerros Uri-Khob, Clemence Wimmerth and Armstrong Anderson. His near-faultless display week in and week out in the heart of Santos’ midfield did not go unnoticed by national talent scouts. Slice was duly rewarded in 1994 for his efforts with a call up to the national senior football team, the Brave Warriors. At the time, the Warriors, under the guidance of Uberhajn and Mogane, were in a rebuilding process and Slice was an integral part of the newly assembled squad that went on to to rewrite history by qualifying for the bi-annual CAF AFCON finals in Burkina Faso in 1998. The Namibians reached two finals of the regional Cosafa Cup, losing against Zambia and Angola, respectively. He formed the spine of the giant killing Brave Warriors side, “the Class of 98”. His impressive performance during the finals in Ouagadougou caught the eye of South African glamour football club Kaizer Chiefs and Slice was subsequently signed by the Soweto giants at the start of the 1998/99 campaign. Initially Chiefs wanted to sign his Warriors teammate Robert Nauseb, but needed a sidekick to keep their new signing in good company while he finds his feet in the gold city. Slice was actually signed by default. He impressed then Chiefs mentor Paul Dolezar so much at training that he was drafted into the Phefeni Boys starting line up. He made his PSL debut against Bloemfontein Celtic in a three-pronged defense alongside skipper Neil Tovey and Jacob Tshisevhe in a strong rearguard, also comprising Martin Zwane, Lefa Goxa and Malawian import Patrick Mabedi. In only his debut season, Slice was voted the most outstanding player in the entire PSL by the popular football magazine, Kick Off. He also won the Rothmans Cup with his new team and they finished as runners-up in the lucrative FNB Cup. Chiefs lost to underdogs Supersports United in the final. The Pretoria outfit’s striker Glen Salmon was the destroyer with a well-taken brace. Apart from the setback, the likeable Tsumeb-born lad was to establish himself as one of the finest centre-backs in the SA Professional League (PSL) and often wore the captain armband in the absence of regular skipper Neil Tovey. After two and a half solid seasons with Chiefs, Slice left the club in search of greener pastures in Europe, joining Oslo Lyon FC in 2000. His rich vein of form saw him voted as one of the top five best players of the season for his club in only his debut season. However, persistent knee injuries abbreviated his flourishing football career in the Norwegian capital Oslo, obliging the soft-spoken defender to retreat to South Africa following a successful stint, stretching over two rigourous seasons in the demanding arena of European football. Upon his return to South Africa, he joined Soweto giants Morokka Swallows, where he was to be reunited with former Chiefs centre-back partner Patrick Mabedi in the heart of the Dube Birds’ defense. Getting a bit long in the tooth, coupled with a series of niggling injuries, the Namibian finally returned home and joined forces with Katutura giants Orlando Pirates in the role of player/assistant coach. His valuable and vast experience steered the success-starved sea robbers to a rare victory in the annual NFA Leo Cup in only his debut season with the Ghosts. He finally called it quits in 2007. [caption id=""attachment_89453"" align=""alignnone"" width=""201""] Like father like son… Slice’s father, the late Kaputji Kuhanga was a much-feared winger, blessed with a dangerous left foot. He also played professional football in South Africa with Durban outfit African Wanderers in the 70’s.[/caption] [caption id=""attachment_89455"" align=""alignnone"" width=""192""] Still going strong… The former Brave Warriors and Kaizer Chiefs accomplished centre back is now the technical director of his boyhood outfit MTC Premiership returnees Chief Santos FC.[/caption]" 2016-06-24Staff Report 2
