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| Special Olympics Namibia's Delano Beukes (inset) helped lead his team to victory. Celebrating their shootout win are (left to right) Nel Christo, Beukes, and Gideon Nanub. [Photo by Matt Browne, IRELAND OUT] |
by Charles Nyambe, Special Olympics Namibia National Director
Special Olympics Namibia athlete Delano Beukes’ performance in the five-a-side football competition at the 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games was the stuff that legends are made of. As captain of a seven member team that looked to be novices compared to experienced teams such as Gibraltar, Portugal and Barbados, Beukes led his charges by sheer example, and his charisma wooed hundreds of fans for the team.
But it was on the field of play that his genius was really exposed. The youth showed true grit, determination and — above all —class as he bobbed, weaved and danced around his opponents on his way to a 12 goal feast in the tournament. His magical feet captivated the multitude of fans that thronged to every game Namibia played. The boy wonder knew it too, and certainly lived up to all the hype. Every time he had the ball, the crowd would hold its collective breath, then gasp, as he cleverly beat his opponents with one tormenting skill after another. Perhaps the biggest draw for the ever-growing number of fans was Beukes’s signature back-somersault celebration at every goal he scored, which delighted the crowds.
And so the stage was set for real life dram,a as the much smaller Namibian team, dented and bruised, made its way to the medal playoffs, owing much to the exploits of one Beukes.
By the medal rounds, the opposition had realized who the adroit players were within the Namibian ranks. In their first playoff game against the larger and more physical team representing Special Olympics Ivory Coast, Beukes was targeted for the most tackles, thus spending much of the game nursing his injuries rather than competing. Beukes' teammates Chisto Nel and Gideon Nanub, who also performed very well throughout the Games, were tackled numerous times and received their fair share of injuries too. Namibia lost the match 4-2 and was left to fight for a bronze medal against a very crafty Special Olympics Venezuela team.
The bruising encounter with Ivory Coast took its toll both physically and psychologically on the inexperienced Namibian team, which was shell-shocked in the first half of their final game against Venezuela. The crowd that had thronged to the pitch to see Namibia play could hardly believe their eyes as they watched Venezuela bang five goals against the seemingly helpless African team. With only minutes to play, everyone thought only a miracle could save Namibia from a painful defeat.
The crowd started cheering for the Namibians to get at least one goal. Then, something duddenly happened! The Namibian squad drew strength from deep within them and began to play soccer! In true Hollywood style, up stepped Beukes for a scintillating display of suave skill and determination that intoxicated the crowds. The young man weaved his magic and delivered! Within the five minutes remaining in the game, Beukes lifted the crowds into seventh heaven with a blizzard of goals (and back somersaults) to tie the game at 5 all and send it into overtime.
In true dramatic fashion, the last goal to tie the game at 5 all was a free kick that Beukes had been awarded because of an illegal tackle. He looked to his bench for directions where he was told to slam the ball for a goal. Beukes needed no second invitation; he took a small run-up to the ball, and drilled a thunderous shot that whistled its way through the defensive wall and slammed into the bottom right-hand corner of the net.
Fans were delirious with joy and staged a mini-invasion of the pitch in celebration of what they called the “game and goal of the tournament!” It was just as well that there was a pitch invasion to celebrate the goal, because the referee needed some time to rescue the ball that was stuck in the corner of the net ? such was the power of the shot!
Neither team scored another goal during overtime, so the game ended with a dramatic penalty shoot out. In true David and Goliath fashion, Namibia bested Venezuela in the shootout, 5-3, to win the bronze medal, sending team Namibia into a euphoric celebration. The underdogs had snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, thanks in large part to Captain Courageous Delano Beukes.
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