Kwashi returns home with honours

Although football in Vietnam is not followed by many Zimbabweans due to distance, language barrier and satellite connections, the name Kwashi has over the past three years become what Steven Gerrard is to Liverpool, Francisco Totti is to AS Roma or what Esrom Nyandoro is to Sundowns

In an exclusive interview with The Zimbabwean, Kwashi (27) who plays for Gach dong Tah Long An which finished second on the log, said hard work and team work had made him achieve what he has during his three years in Vietnam.

“I was the fourth top goal scorer this season with 12 goals, I could have done better considering that I had 22 goals last season and 31 the previous one,” said Kwashi.

The highest goal scorer in Vietnam at the just-ended season had 20 goals.  

“One man cannot make the team but a man makes a difference.  I could not have scored all those goals without my team mates.  Without my team mates I am nothing, without them I wouldn’t get the service up front,” he said.

His team had been the reigning champions and playing for titleholders meant he had to prove that he deserved to be in the starting line-up.

“Football in Vietnam is not followed by most Zimbabweans, it would have been better is they did. Many people are familiar with European soccer which makes it easy for players to be identified with,” he said.

Statistics from Vietnam, derived from all the actions that took place during the just-ended season – which include goals, shots on target, corners, fouls, offsides, passes, tackles, assists, blocks and clearances – showed that Kwashi is rated in the top five players this season.

“I thank God and my father and my mother. They’re the people that have driven me.  I believe in God and he’s been leading me through all my career,” he said.

Kwashi, who had an accident three weeks ago and had ten stitches in the head, believes everyone has his time to shine in football and the star was shining on him over the past three seasons.

His father, Steven ‘the Dude’ Kwashi, is a former soccer great who played for the national team. Steven clinched the best coach of the year award three times in Zimbabwe.

Kwashi’s goalscoring instinct could be good news to the coach appointed by the Zimbabwe Football Association before the end of the year.

The national team has been struggling to score, with the strikers firing blanks, a situation which cost the country their third consecutive Africa Cup of Nation qualifier next year.

“I’ve played for the under 17’s, under 20’s, under 23’s and the senior team.  I’ve graduated through the ranks. Playing for your country is every footballer’s dream,” he said.

Kwashi starting playing for Caps United at the age of eight and made his first team debut at 17 in 1997.  But he admitted he felt like Nigel Clough, playing for his father Brian at Nottingham Forest, and he had to prove to the fans that he deserved his place in the team, not just because he was the manager’s son.

 “My father has been instrumental in my career. When you grow up in a football family, it’s like a family business, and I am carrying the flag,” he said.

Kwashi has played in England for South League Division One side, Dartford.

So where is his future?  “I am a free agent now, and could be moving to another team or signing another contract. I am yet to make a decision about my future,” he said.