Harrison "Wawa" Chongo (5 June 1969 – 12 May 2011) was a Zambia international

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player who played in central defence or as a defensive midfielder.

Career

Born in

Lusaka Lusaka (; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zambia. It is one of the fastest-developing cities in southern Africa. Lusaka is in the southern part of the central plateau at an elevation of about . , the city's population was ab ...

, Chongo began playing club football

Mufulira Wanderers F.C. Mufulira Wanderers are Zambia's most successful football club, based in the Copperbelt town of Mufulira and currently playing in the Zambia National Division One after their 2019/2020 season relegation. Popularly known as Mighty Mufulira Wan ...

, breaking into the first team in 1989. In 1992, he joined

Al Taawon Al Taawoun Football Club ( ar, التعاون, lit=Cooperation) is a professional multi-sports club based in Buraidah, Saudi Arabia. The football team competes in the Saudi Professional League, the top tier of Saudi Football. The club play the ...

Club in the Saudi First Division, where he played until he retired. Chongo was included in the

Zambia national football team The Zambia national football team represents Zambia in men's international association football and it is governed by the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ). During the 1980s, they were known as the KK 11, after founding president Dr. Kenneth ...

that reached the final for the

1994 African Nations Cup The 1994 African Cup of Nations was the 19th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the association football championship of Africa ( CAF). It was hosted by Tunisia, who replaced original hosts Zaire. Just as in 1992, the field of twelve teams was ...

. He also played in 11

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

qualifying matches. and wawa is regarded as the first Zambian footballer ever to have played professional football for Arabs for a decade in Saudi Arabia and once attended trials for 2 English premier league side Crystal Palace and Barnsley FC after assisting his Saudi-based club Al-Tawoon for winning promotion to Saudi professional league this time as champions for the first time ever in 1996/97 season, he impressed during the trials in England in 1997 despite being overpriced as their defense kingpin and the deal fell through. Nevertheless, he achieved so much and made a second coming for his childhood team Mufulira Wanderers to wrap up his playing career in 2002 as coach player and became appointed as interim coach in 2010 and helped the team survive relegation from sinking into division 2. At the start of the 2011 season he was given a go-ahead as a head coach for the first time and managed to run the 8-game unbeaten race despite death cutting short his dream for bouncing "mighty" to the super league.

Personal

He died in May 2011 of

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

. At the time of his death he was head coach of

Mufulira Wanderers Mufulira Wanderers are Zambia's most successful football club, based in the Copperbelt town of Mufulira and currently playing in the Zambia National Division One after their 2019/2020 season relegation. Popularly known as Mighty Mufulira Wan ...

References

External links

* 1969 births 2011 deaths Sportspeople from Lusaka Zambian footballers Zambia international footballers Zambian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Saudi Arabia Zambian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia 1992 African Cup of Nations players 1994 African Cup of Nations players 1996 African Cup of Nations players 1998 African Cup of Nations players Zambian football managers Al-Taawoun FC players Saudi First Division League players Saudi Professional League players Association football defenders {{Zambia-footy-bio-stub