Kenneth Nkweta Nju (born 27 July 1978) is a Cameroonian former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a defender. He played for clubs in Cameroon and Paraguay. He is also the owner of a football school in Paraguay known as 'Soccer City'. During his career, Nju was nicknamed the Cameroonian Roberto Carlos. Between 2000 and 2008, Nju endured sufficiently to perpetuate in the Asociación Paraguaya de Fútbol as one of few non-CONMEBOL players to do this, and holds the longest participation as a CAF footballer in Paraguayan football.

Career

Nkweta Nju was born in Nkambé,

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

Cerro Porteño

2000

In January 2000, Nkweta Nju joined

Primera División Paraguaya Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera, Venezuelan musician, compos ...

team Club Cerro Porteño. Nju reportedly was awaiting an opportunity in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, but instead received one from Cerro Porteño, which lead to his signing. He converted into one of several footballers from Cameroon to have played for the club, including Geremi Njitap, Cyrille Florent Bella and

Tobie Mimboe Tobie Bayard Mimboe (sometimes referred to as Toby Mimboe), is a Cameroonian former professional footballer who played as a defender and spent most of his career in South America. He was capped for the Cameroon national team, and participated i ...

. In 2000, Nju shared Cerro Porteño's squad with the hierarchy of Paraguayan footballers

Guido Alvarenga Guido Virgilio Alvarenga Morales (born 24 August 1970, in Asunción) is a retired football (soccer) player from Paraguay, who was nicknamed "El Mago". He played as an attacking midfielder during his career. International Alvarenga made his int ...

, Virgilio Ferreira, Estanislao Struway

Jorge Luis Campos Jorge Luis Campos Velázquez (; born 11 August 1970) is a Paraguayan former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. International career Campos made his international debut for the Paraguay national football team on 14 ...

, Argentines Dario Scotto and Juan Sara and

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

n footballer

Luis Cristaldo Luis Héctor Cristaldo Ruiz Díaz (born August 31, 1969 in Formosa, Argentina) is an Argentine-born Bolivian football midfielder. He is Bolivia's national team record cap holder alongside Marco Sandy. Club career Born in Argentina, he relo ...

2001

The following season, Nju formed part of a squad containing Diego Barreto,

Delio Toledo Delio César Toledo Rodas (born 2 October 1976) is a Paraguayan retired footballer who played as a left back. During his professional career, he represented clubs in five countries, competing mainly in La Liga. Toledo appeared with the Paragu ...

, an 18 year old

Julio dos Santos Julio Daniel dos Santos Rodríguez (born 7 May 1983) is a Paraguayan retired footballer who last played for Presidente Hayes. He played usually in the hole-position, and sometimes as a second striker. Club career Born in Asunción, Dos San ...

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

n attacker Froylan Ledezma and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese midfielder

Nozomi Hiroyama is a Japanese former professional Association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. Hiroyama played over 400 games during his career which included spells in Japan, France, Portugal, Paraguay, Brazil and United States, as well as earn ...

. Nju played in two games of the

2001 Copa Libertadores The 2001 Copa Libertadores de América was the 42nd edition of CONMEBOL's premier club football tournament. The winners were Boca Juniors, beating Mexican club Cruz Azul in the finals on penalties and lifting its fourth Copa Libertadores trophy. ...

. In December 2001, Nju departed the club.

Libertad

In 2002, Nju joined

Club Libertad Club Libertad is a professional association football, football club based in Asunción, Paraguay that currently plays in the Paraguayan Primera División. The club plays its home games at Estadio Tigo La Huerta; which holds 10,100 people. Fo ...

. At Libertad, Nju was coached by the Argentine

Gerardo Martino Gerardo Daniel "Tata" Martino (born 20 November 1962) is an Argentine professional football manager and former player. Martino played mostly for Newell's Old Boys in his native Rosario. He holds the record of appearances with the team playing a ...

, whom he described as an extraordinary coach.

12 de Octubre

For the 2003 Primera División season, Nju joined

12 de Octubre Football Club 12 de Octubre Football Club is a Paraguayan football club from the city of Itauguá that currently plays in the División Intermedia, the second division of Football in Paraguay. Founded in 1914, the club's home venue is Estadio Luis Alberto ...

from the city of Itaguá.

Sportivo Luqueño

Nju joined Sportivo Luqueño for the 2004 Primera División season, becoming teammates with compatriot Guy Essamé. Both players remained at the club for the 2005 season.

Masafi

Nju signed with

Emirates Emirates may refer to: * United Arab Emirates, a Middle Eastern country * Emirate, any territory ruled by an emir ** Gulf emirates, emirates located on the Persian Gulf ** Emirates of the United Arab Emirates, the individual emirates * The Emirat ...

club Masafi Sports Club for the 2005/06 season.

General Caballero ZC

Nju played for

General Caballero ZC General Caballero SC is an association football club from Zeballos Cué, Asunción, Paraguay. The club was founded September 6, 1918 and plays in the Paraguayan Primera División B, Primera División B, the third division of the Paraguayan foot ...

Sportivo Trinidense

In February 2007, Nju attended his first sessions at Sportivo Trinidense, becoming the club's eighth signing. In July 2007, Nju started in a game against Cerro Porteño, playing until the 57th minute as Sportivo Trinidense were defeated 3–0. Between 2007 and 2008, Nkweta Nju played in 24 games for Sportivo Trinidense. During the 2008 season, he was teammates with future Paraguay national team attacker Dario Lezcano.

Personal life

Nju does not consume alcohol and enjoys

Paraguayan cuisine The cuisine of Paraguay is the set of dishes and culinary techniques of Paraguay. It has a marked influence of the Guaraní people, in fusion with the Spanish cuisine and other marked influences coming from the immigration received by bordering ...

, such as

Sopa Paraguaya Sopa paraguaya is a traditional food of the Paraguayan cuisine similar to corn bread. Corn flour, cheese, onion and milk or whey are common ingredients. It is a spongy cake rich in caloric and protein content. Sopa is similar to another corn-base ...

, Chipa Guazu and Bori Bori. Nju has lived in Paraguay since arriving in 2001 and his three children were born in the country. Nju enjoys reading and he constantly capacitates himself to be a good preparer of athletes, owning a sports complex which forms football players.

Honours

Individual * Seven seasons as foreigner and non-

CONMEBOL The South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL, , or CSF; es, Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol; pt, Confederação Sul-Americana de Futebol) is the continental governing body of football in South America (apart from Guyana, Suri ...

footballer in the Asociación Paraguaya de Fútbol.

References

External links

Sport.de Profile
*
Kenneth Nkweta Nju
at playmakerstats.com (English version of ceroacero.es) {{DEFAULTSORT:Nkweta Nju, Kenneth 1978 births Living people Men's association football defenders Cameroonian men's footballers Cerro Porteño players Club Libertad footballers 12 de Octubre Football Club players Sportivo Luqueño players Sportivo Trinidense footballers Cameroonian expatriate men's footballers Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Paraguay Expatriate men's footballers in Paraguay