The sudden death of former Kaizer Chiefs winger Herman "Pele" Blaschke was felt deeply in both South Africa and his native Namibia where he was regarded as perhaps their top footballing export. An integral member of the Chiefs side during its early days, Blaschke, 67, suffered a heart attack at home in Reiger Park, Boksburg, on February 12.In 1969, Kaizer Motaung took a merry band of mates around South Africa and beyond the borders, playing friendly matches to earn some cash. And so began the genesis of what is today South Africa's favourite sporting institution.Kaizer's XI were an exhibition team, made up of some the best players of the day, who quickly captured the public imagination as they travelled near and far. They built up their players' roster as they went along, enticing the best opponents away from teams they played against.In Mohlakeng, outside Randfontein, they found the teenage Ace Ntsoelengoe, wasting no time in recruiting him, but in Durban they faced hostility and had to stay away for a while after poaching Alfred Chamane and Petros Ndzimande.On a trip to Katatura, outside Windhoek, Kaizer's XI were so impressed by Blaschke's performance for the South West Africa Invitation XI that they asked him to join them as well.Within a year the motley crew had evolved into Kaizer Chiefs, and Blaschke - whose favourite position was right wing - was among their early stars as black professional football got under way, after several false starts, with the launch of the National Professional Soccer League in 1971.Blaschke was among the goal scorers in Chiefs' first league game - an 11-1 win over African Wanderers - and netted 17 goals in the opening league season as Chiefs finished second behind Orlando Pirates but beat their archrivals in the cup final replay to win their first major trophy.Blaschke boarded at Motaung's house and later with Ewert Nene, the charismatic manager of the side, becoming an integral part of the Chiefs family.In 1973, he and Ntsoelengoe followed Motaung to the US - the closest they could get to the international stage as apartheid-enforced isolation of sport started to take hold. A wave of South African footballers would follow in subsequent years and compete in the North American Soccer League.The Chiefs pair went to the Miami Toros but before they left South Africa, both Blaschke and Ntsoelengoe scored against Moroka Swallows to win the Champion of Champions title for Chiefs.Back home in 1974, Blaschke helped Chiefs to their first league title as they ran away with the NPSL championship, finishing nine points clear of second-placed Swallows.In 1975, Chiefs and Pirates clashed in the semifinal of the new multinational Champion of Champions, drawing the game 2-2 and deciding the outcome with a penalty shoot-out for the first time in South African soccer history. Blaschke scored the winning penalty in a 4-2 triumph.He won a total of nine trophies with Chiefs and two league championships, the second in 1976.Born in Khomasdal, the coloured township on the outskirts of Windhoek, to a German father, Blaschke started playing at local club Thistle before moving to Swakopmund to play for Atlanta Chiefs, a team that took their name from the club in the US where Motaung played.After his playing days, Blaschke returned briefly to play and coach in Windhoek at the Namibia champions Black Africa but came back to South Africa to settle in Boksburg, where he lived for almost four decades.He coached several amateur teams in the area and nearby Vosloorus and worked for SAA.Blaschke's former teammate, with whom he shared a house in his playing days, Banks Setlhodi, said the winger was humble and honest. And when he spoke, everybody listened. "He would never tell a lie. We would tell untruths to our manager over things we had done, but he would scold us and tell us to own up. He always did and he took his medicine. He never missed training and was a true professional."I remember a game we played in Durban against AmaZulu where I conceded six goals. We were travelling by Kombi in those days and I could see, sitting next to him on the way home, that he was cross. "He said to me: 'You will not speak, eat or drink until we are back in Joburg.' It was the only way he could think of punishing me, but you know what, I listened to him because that was how much I respected him as a player and a person."I did as he said and he taught me a lesson. I vowed from that day on never to treat a game as lightly as I had against AmaZulu."Chiefs was not the same when he left the team, both on the pitch and off it. We missed his presence and his wise words," said Setlhodi.Chiefs acknowledged the contribution he had made to the club when, in 2011, a little more than 40 years after he first started turning out in its colours, Motaung bestowed on him the prestigious Chairman's Award .Blaschke leaves behind his wife, Jane, and children, Sidney and Joline.1948-2016..