Rudolf Bester

Rudolf Bester

Personal information
Date of birth	(1983-07-19) 19 July 1983
Place of birth	Otjiwarongo, South-West Africa
Height
Position(s)	Striker, Winger
Team information
Current team	Golden Arrows (on loan from Orlando Pirates)
Number	25
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2003–2006	Eleven Arrows
2006–2007	Eleven Arrows
2008	Čukarički Stankom	23	(2)
2009	Eleven Arrows
2009–2011	Maritzburg United	52	(13)
2011–2013	Orlando Pirates	20	(1)
2013–	→ Golden Arrows (loan)	0	(0)
International career‡
2004–	Namibia	41	(13)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 5 September 2013 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 17 May 2014

Rudolf Bester (born 19 July 1983 in Otjiwarongo) is a Namibian football striker who currently plays in the South African Premier Soccer League for Golden Arrows on loan from Orlando Pirates.

He previously played for Serbian SuperLiga club FK Čukarički Stankom, having joined the team in January 2008 from Eleven Arrows.

He was a part of the Namibian squad at the 2008 African Cup of Nations. He has a record of 13 goals for Namibia and is currently the highest national top goal scorer, ahead of retired Gerros Uri-khob with 12 and Ruben Van Wyk with 11 goals. Despite coming on for Orlando Pirates as a substitute in various games, Bester once gave Pirates an important victory in the last games of the 2011/12 league season. The win came at a crucial time and contributed to the team's league title. Pirates were held 1–1 by Cosmos and in the dying minutes of the second half, he scored a winning cracker to give the defending champions a 3-point lead on top of the table against relegation bound Jomo Cosmos in the 2011/12 season.

In June 2012 Rudolf Bester missed three important international matches due to Injury. He was expected to play for Namibia's Brave Warriors in the 2014 Brazil World Cup Qualifiers against Nigeria, Kenya and 2013 African Cup of Nations qualifier against Liberia. He recovered from the injury and returned to international duty in a friendly against Rwanda on Saturday, 13 October 2012 in Windhoek. He is one of the few Namibians to play professional football outside Namibia, the first Namibian to win the PSL with Pirates and the first Namibian to play against Tottenham Hotspur of England.

His name is occasionally spelled as Rudolph in some sources.

International goals

Scores and results list Namibia's goal tally first.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	23 July 2006	Independence Stadium, Windhoek	Malawi	2–1	3–2	2006 COSAFA Cup
2.	6 July 2007	Kamuzu Stadium, Blantyre	Malawi	2–1	2–1	Friendly
3.	8 September 2007	Addis Ababa Stadium, Addis Abeba	Ethiopia	1–1	3–2	2008 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier
4.	8 September 2007	Addis Ababa Stadium, Addis Ababa	Ethiopia	2–2	3–2	2008 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier
5.	14 June 2008	Sam Nujoma Stadium, Windhoek	Guinea	1–1	1–2	2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier
6.	11 October 2008	Sam Nujoma Stadium, Windhoek	Zimbabwe	2–0	4–2	2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier
7.	1 April 2009	Saida International Stadium, Saida	Lebanon	1–0	1–1	Friendly
8.	6 June 2009	Independence Stadium, Windhoek	DR Congo	2–0	4–0	Friendly
9.	4 September 2009	Sam Nujoma Stadium, Windhoek	Swaziland	1–0	1–1	Friendly
10.	3 March 2010	Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban	South Africa	1–0	1–1	Friendly
11.	11 November 2011	Stade National Gouled, Djibouti	Djibouti	1–0	4–0	2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier
12.	11 November 2011	Stade ational Gouled, Djibouti	Djibouti	3–0	4–0	2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
13.	17 May 2014	Sam Nujoma Stadium, windhoek	Congo	1–0	1–0	2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier

External links

• Rudolf Bester at National-Football-Teams.com
• Rudolf Bester – FIFA competition record