Owen Da Gama

thumb|Owen Da Gama - Rio 2016. Owen Da Gama (born 18 August 1961) is a South African former footballer and manager. Quotes As a coach, I thrive on pressure. I believe the more pressure there is, the more diamonds you create. That's what my father used to say. Pressure creates diamonds and I've always passed this on to players. It was a great experience with a lot of pressure. It was the most professional club I have been to. I used to go watch the development team games and I asked (Augusto) Palacios to promote some of the guys. I was without an assistant coach throughout my entire time at Pirates. It was extremely difficult, but we just could not find the right guy. I had a lot of support from management, and we made the top eight after a difficult season. Teko was tired when he came back and we had to play a match against SuperSport United, who were on fire at the time. I thought the only way to inspire Teko was to make him captain I knew at Pirates that there was certain philosophy on who must be captain and who must not be captain. I bore the brunt of that. I had to explain why I made him captain and I apologized. It was an apology that was very sweet. The best thing was the support from the chairman There were no promises that were made and not fulfilled He made every conversation easy because he would outline the situation without putting you under pressure and he would want a reaction about that. The thing about the chairman is that he documents everything. Three months down the line, he would tell you what you said three months earlier. He is a true professional and I did not have a difficult conversation with the chairman, as far as I can recall. It was all over the world and people got to know that it was one of the biggest derbies in the world, because it was witnessed by over a billion people around the world. I selected the team and took responsibility. There was a time when I got a lot of criticism from certain areas of the media who were questioning if I am xenophobic, but I never based my selection on who you are or where you come from. I selected the team on the basis that it's the best team at that moment. But it was difficult for me at the time because we had a big squad. I was there for one season, so I tried to manage it as best as possible. I got so much publicity, and the chairman warned me about that I got so much publicity, and it opened so many doors for me. It gave me a name. I had a little bit of a name as a player and then coach for Silver Stars, but it gave me a mega name in South African football when I coached Pirates. I interacted with a lot of human beings that touched my life There were no fights, no nothing. It was disappointing, but you've got to accept what happens in life. I started on a project, and I wanted to finish the product. All I said was that I am laying a foundation and sadly it was the end of the road, and I took it like a man. When I look at the training facilities, the gyms and the money that is being invested now that I didn't have, it's world class. If I could have such facilities, I'd conquer South Africa, there is no doubt about that. I think I'd win the league 'I Got The Best Contract Of My Life At Pirates',June 24,2024, Soccer Laduma by Tshepang Mailwane External links Category:Soccer players from South Africa Category:Living people Category:Football (soccer) coaches Category:1961 births