Today the Flash Back Friday spotlight falls on the once upon a time ridiculously talented Fwayo Tembo. In his prime Fwayo did attract interest from top European clubs including a famous trial at the Santiago Bernabéu, the home of Real Madrid.
He played for Romanian side Astra Giurgiu and was part of the FC Basel side that played in the UEFA Champions League in the 2010-11 season. Perhaps one of the greatest tragedies of the Zambian game is that Fwayo Tembo never got to grace an Africa Cup of Nations in his career. Fwayo Tembo is widely regarded as one of the most supremely talented footballers to have ever come out of Zambia but yet his story stands out as one of those what could have been tale.
At 37 years Fwayo could have been winding down his career. Fwayo enjoyed an eight-year overseas career that took him to North Africa and Europe but has surprisingly never been to the Africa Cup of Nations with Chipolopolo. He was also one of Zambia’s biggest stars at their last U20 AFCON outing in Congo-Brazzaville in 2007 where the team finished 4th and he was joint top scorer on 3 goals.
The team qualified to the 2007 FIFA U20 World Cup in Canada where he scored a goal and the side became the first Zambian team to reach the knockout stage with a last 16 exit. After the tournament, Fwayo went on to play for Etoile du Sahel in
Tunisia and later joined Swiss club Basel where he played in both the Europa and UEFA Champions League before making his last European stop in Romania at FC Astra.
The man better known by his moniker ‘Mbuzi Zagwa’ was part of the EduSport golden generation academy stars. Domestically he has donned the Lusaka Dynamos and Power Dynamos stripes.
What is your favourite Fwayo memory?
