Africa-Press – Namibia. QUINTON ‘Magic’ Jacobs belongs to a rare breed of exceptional midfield players to have come out of Namibia.
Gifted with impeccable skills and an educated left foot coated with a brilliant football brain, Jacobs played what is known as ‘champagne’ football.
He was first noticed during a Coca-Cola Schools League match in the mid-90s as he ran his hapless St Paul’s College counterparts ragged as he orchestrated a solid 11-1 win for Dawid Bezuidenhout Secondary School.
He made his league football debut with crack Central First Division outfit Eastern Jumpers in the early 90s from where he was recruited by the late football guru Bobby Sissing to join the brilliant Young Ones in the Namibian Premier League.
“It was like a dream, because things were happening too fast. I was only 14 years old when I kicked my first league football for (Eastern) Jumpers in the Central First Division. It didn’t take long before the big guns came calling.
“It only took four months before I kissed first division goodbye after Young Ones, coached by Dove Fransman and Tollie van Wyk, signed me up to play in the country’s top flight.
“However, my exploits with Young Ones attracted the interest of Black Africa,” he says.
Jacobs says he enjoyed his best football in Namibia playing for the Lively Lions with whom he annexed two back-to-back premier league titles with the country’s most-decorated football club in 1998 and 1999 respectively.
His exploits in the Black Africa midfield opened the doors to his first move to Europe with Patrick Thistles in the Scottish Premier League in 2000 – only to move on to Germany to ply his trade at MSV Duisburg for a year and a half.
In between, the retired ball juggler also had a spell with Norwegian outfit Bryne FK with whom he signed a two-and-a-half year contract before the 2008 African Cup of Nations tournament in Ghana.
Says Jacobs: “It was a very proud moment for me when I got called up to the Brave Warriors squad to play for my country in the epic continental tournament. Little did I know that my joy would soon turn into sorrow after I picked up what looked like a career-ending injury.
“My saddest moment came after Brumme decided to terminate my contract due to the nature of my injury. I recuperated fully from the injury after which I joined Ramblers and we won the NFA Cup in 2002 thanks to a penalty shoot-out win over Black Africa in the final.”
Jacobs enjoyed a brief spell with Black Leopards in South Africa the following season, but immediately found his way back home because of the appalling accommodation conditions offered by his club in Venda.
He joined Ajax Cape Town in 2005 but only stayed with the Premier Soccer League outfit for a brief spell before the club’s former chairman, John Comitis, sold him to Bryne FK in Norway after only four months in South Africa.
Jacobs says he preferred joining Black Africa because their style of play suited his own style.
“And,” he says, “playing for BA was seen as a gateway for a call-up to the national team.”
“They had some of the best players in the country, and my game improved to the level that I was good enough to go play in Europe.”
Jacobs made his senior national team debut against Mozambique in 1998 while he played his last official match for the Brave Warriors against Gambia in 2010. However, his final match for Namibia was during a friendly encounter against India in the same year.
WORK, FAMILY
Jacobs is currently employed as the Mariental Sport Club’s full-time coach, and also stays at the town in the Hardap region.
“The club has an ambitious chairman with the big dream to put up a professional set-up to rock Namibian football if all goes well.
“The current situation in the country is not conducive to playing football. The infighting of the football leaders is selfish and their egos have led to our young men and women not enjoying football like we did in the past,” he says.
The sport club just returned from a trip to South Africa where Jacobs, together with the chairperson of the club Ryder Jod, visited DStv Premier League outfit Cape Town City for a fact-finding mission.
“Our mission was just to go and see and learn about how things are done the professional way,” he says.
Jacobs says he enjoys being a coach, despite various challenges.
“What is happening in our country is shameful. The football administrators are being paid their full salaries while there is no football in the country, and the poor players are living on petty handouts,” he says.
Jacobs is not married, and has a daughter whom he refers to as “the little angel of my life”.
His advice to young players is to “continue training hard and be cognisant of your talent”.
“Enjoy your football and try to make a name for yourself, because life is too short and one has to live it to the fullest,” he says.
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