Da Gama dreams of coaching his boyhood club Chiefs

Former Moroka Swallows striker Owen Da Gama hopes that one of these days Kaizer Chiefs will offer him a position as a coach at the club. 

Da Gama, who religiously supported Amakhosi from an early age, believes if he can get a chance, he can build a strong team that will return the Phefeni Glamour Boys to its former glory. 

“If it was up to me, I would coach the team from Naturena. As a boy, it was my favourite team. They have a great technical team but if there is an opportunity that one day I can become part of it, I would grab it with both hands. But any other team that needs my services would be great opportunity as well,” said Da Gama.

The 62-year-old has served as head coach for Silver Stars, Dynamos, Platinum Stars, Orlando Pirates, Bloemfontein Celtic and Highlands Park. 

He has also helped many teams survive relegation and has identified players such as Surprise Moriri, Koketso Mmotong, Edward Williams and Given Msimango, who have gone on to become household names. 

“One of my greatest strengths is my ability to unearth raw talent. I identified a number of players and they respectively became great stars who ended up playing for big teams. 

“I spotted Moriri while he was playing at Springs and [I also] brought Msimango to Highlands Park, he has now joined Chiefs,” Da Gama said. 

Having ended his playing career at Dynamos and began his coaching career at the same club, Da Gama boasts of changing dynamics and directions of some of the clubs both in the National First Division and Premier Soccer League.

“When Peter Rabali, owner of Dynamos, asked me to coach there in the first year, we got promoted to the PSL. I decided to step aside when another Zambian coach was brought in to be my co-coach. They were relegated the following year.

“And then I went to Silver Stars, we got a position in the PSL, and we finished second on the log. I then became technical director for the Free State Stars; they were at the bottom of the log when I got there and I helped them out of relegation,” he said. 

The best coaching gig by far was Da Gama's 2007/08 season at Orlando Pirates. 

"Coaching the Bucs was one of the greatest moments of my life. It was truly a great honour and a great experience working with the Iron Duke himself – Irvin Khoza, the chairman. He impacted my life in the most positive way and I turned into something truly special. It put me on the map,” said Da Gama. 

“At Platinum Stars, I stayed for two seasons, and I also had the opportunity to be Shakes Mashaba's assistant coach for Bafana Bafana and coached the U-23 team in 2014. Highlands Park also got promoted in my first year as coach and ended up competing in the Top 8.”  

"Rubber Doll" – as Da Gama is also known – said he was quick during his matches.

“During the time when I was playing for Callies, there was a journalist, Kenneth Lebethe,  from Atteridgeville who worked at Pretoria News. He is the one who gave me the nickname because he said I was like a rubber doll in the field.

“One of my attributes was that I was very fast and whenever any player would trip me, I would bounce back quickly. I would get back up even when I was in pain, I would jump up immediately and continue to play,” he said.

Da Gama, who went on to play overseas, chose football over his law studies.

He said his father was a teacher who wanted his children to study further so they could have something to fall back on.

Da Gama's father would get deployed wherever there was a vacancy and his family moved from Limpopo to Volksrust in Mpumalanga. 

"My great-grandparents and grandparents are from Limpopo, in the Venda district. That is why I speak fluent Venda and Tsonga. My father’s mother was Tsonga and she couldn’t speak any English words. My friends were either Tsonga, Venda or Pedi. I moved to Pretoria when my father was deployed. 

“I started studying law with Unisa in 1979 and did very well in my studies. While in Pretoria, I started playing for Arcadia Shepherds and I was travelling as a player,” he said.

“I decided to focus on my football because if God present you with a talent, you must give it your everything.” 

While abroad, Da Gama was voted Ireland's Player Of The Year after finishing as top goalscorer during his days with Derry City.  

“I earned lot of accolades there. I enjoyed playing for Derry City because it was a great opportunity. At first, I went for trials with seven other players from all over the world. There were an Argentinian, Swedish and French players, but I was determined to make the team.  

“For the first month when I got there, it was very cold and it rained everyday. But I was determined to succeed and made sure I didn’t worry about the weather, the food or the language even when there were a lot of cultural shocks,” he remembered. 

“I was scoring a lot of goals and I was offered a three-year contract.”  

Da Gama runs a farm back in Limpopo as he is currently unattached to any club. However he says his coaching days are not over and will consider offers.

ratsatsik@sowetan.co.za