MOSES MASUWA A STRIKER WITH AN EYE FOR GOAL Birth and roots Like Wisdom Chansa, Winter Mumba and Kenani Simambe, Moses Masuwa was also born in Kitwe, home to Zambia’s winningest team in the topflight, Nkana FC and also base to Power Dynamos, arch-rivals to the Wusakili-based team. Style of play Masuwa was an old-fashioned striker who loved racing with the ball with an eye for goal who believed in facing defenders before going for glory. He, like Chitalu, was known for thunderous shooting at goal. Club career He played for three clubs domestically. Originally from Army side Green Buffaloes, he would also briefly play for Kafue’s Nitrogen Stars before finding permanency, so to speak, at Railway Ground, the team where his CV was developed and enhanced brightly, winning a couple of honours, among them, the 1991 BP Challenge Cup and a Premier league title in 1987. Among the men he rubbed shoulders with at Warriors were Timothy Mwitwa, Ricard Mwanza, Whiteson Changwe and Paul Masumba from a long list. At the time of the plane crash that also killed 18 of his teammates and two coaches, Godfrey Chitalu and Alex Chola in addition to 10 other passengers aboard the military Buffalo plane, Masuwa was plying for Roan United, a team that has produced most of Zambia’s star players such as Ginger Pensulo, Willie “Whichway” Chifita, Boniface Simutowe, Godfrey Mpula, Bernard “Bomber” Chanda, Kaiser Kalambo, Martin Besa, Joseph Mapulanga, Jim Mwale, Zambani Sailota, Derrick Mwansa and Vincent Chileshe, the first goalkeeper to win the prestigious Zambia Footballer-of-the-Year award in 1977, beating arguably the greatest player of all time, Godfrey Chitalu to the race. International career Masuwa was one of the four strikers in the team that perished off the Gabonese capital of Libreville alongside Wisdom Chansa, Kenani Simambe and Kelvin Mutale.
Though in and out of the Chitalu-Alex Chola tutored side, on his day, Masuwa was a forward to bank on. God knows how far the stocky striker would have gone with Zambia in pursuing his career at the highest level.
