Tamandani Wazayo Phillip "Tam" Nsaliwa (born 28 January 1982) is a former professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. Born in Malawi, he represented the Canada national team at international level.

Club career

Early years

Nsaliwa was born in

Lilongwe Lilongwe (, ,) is the capital and largest city of Malawi. It has a population of 989,318 as of the 2018 Census, up from a population of 674,448 in 2008. In 2020, that figure was 1,122,000. The city is located in the central region of Malawi, i ...

, Malawi. He moved to

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

some years after he played for local youth side Edmonton Southwest United. Apparently this was the first boys team in club history to advance to the Under-15 National Championships, finishing fourth in the competition. He then played for Edmonton North West United and represented the

Alberta Soccer Association The Alberta Soccer Association (ASA) is the governing body for soccer in the Canadian province of Alberta. The association was formed in 1911 as the ''Alberta Football Association''. The ASA is a member of the national governing body, the Cana ...

in all its subsequent youth select teams before moving to Germany at the age of 16.

Germany

He moved to Germany where he played for the

Energie Cottbus FC Energie Cottbus (Lower Sorbian: ''Energija Chóśebuz'') is a Football in Germany, German football club based in Cottbus, Brandenburg. It was founded in 1963 as SC Cottbus in what was East Germany. After the German reunification, reunificatio ...

youth program for one season, returned to Canada for one year and then back again to Germany to sign with 2. Bundesliga outfit 1. FC Nürnberg. While he only played a minor part, he won the league title to clinch promotion to the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

. However, unhappy in Nürnberg, he moved on to

1. FC Saarbrücken 1. Fußball-Club Saarbrücken () is a German Football in Germany, football club based in Saarbrücken, Saarland. The club plays in the 3. Liga, which is the third tier of football in Germany. History The club began its existence as the footbal ...

and carried on to play on the second level for five more years, including one season at Jahn Regensburg. He would go on to relinquish his Canadian citizenship to become a citizen of Germany (where he spent seven years) in 2007 to avoid local rules limiting the number of non-EU internationals permitted in a team.

Greece

In 2006, he was lured to

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

side

Panionios Panionios G.S.S. Football Club (Greek: ΠΑΕ Πανιώνιος Γ.Σ.Σ.), the ''Pan-Ionian Gymnastics Club of Smyrna'' (Πανιώνιος Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Σμύρνης, ''Panionios Gymnastikos Syllogos Smyrnis''), ...

by their new German manager

Ewald Lienen Ewald Lienen (born 28 November 1953) is a German association football, football manager and former player. His last job was technical director of FC St. Pauli. Playing career Lienen began his professional career at Arminia Bielefeld of the 2. Fu ...

and enjoyed his first season of top league soccer. In his first and only season at the club, as co-captain, he would go on to help them place fifth in the league ranking and thus securing a UEFA Cup position for the following year for only the second time in the club's history. He did this with his second goal of the season on the final day of the season against local giants

AEK Athens A.E.K. (; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople'') is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelfeia, Attica. The club is more commonly known in European competitions as A.E.K. Athens. Establishe ...

. Prior to the match it had been publicly speculated that he had already signed for AEK in that mid–season, although he was also being publicly courted but the two other Greek soccer giants,

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, ...

and Panathinaikos. Some days after that game he went on to announce that he would join AEK Athens on a three-year contract.

AEK Athens

In his first season at AEK Athens, Nsaliwa would quickly win the affections of the supporters with his performance against

Sevilla Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...

in the Champions League Qualifying stage playing alongside Champions League runner–up,

Akis Zikos Andreas Vasilios "Akis" Zikos (; born 1 June 1974) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. He was a strong and industrious player, known for his tackling and positioning skills. At international level, he ...

and World Cup champion,

Rivaldo Rivaldo Vítor Borba Ferreira (; born 19 April 1972), known simply as Rivaldo, is a Brazilian former footballer who played mainly as an attacking midfielder but also as a second striker, and on occasion deployed as a wide midfielder or as ...

. Although AEK did not advance he was singled out as a shining player for the team in the series and expectations had been placed on him based on it. That season the club would be crowned "The Unofficial Champions of Greece" after a disputed Championship won by

Olympiacos FC Olympiacos Football Club ( ), known simply as Olympiacos or Olympiacos Piraeus, is a Greek professional football club based in Piraeus. Part of the major multi-sport club Olympiacos CFP (''Olympiakós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós'', "Olymp ...

. The championship was handed to Olympiacos after the Greek Football Federation found an Austrian player (Vagner) from Apollon Kalamarias had played a game against the club illegally and thus awarded Olympiacos the three points that would subsequently take them two points above AEK FC and elude the club of yet another championship after 13 years. In his first UEFA cup season with AEK, Nsaliwa went on to score the lone goal against

FK Mladá Boleslav FK Mladá Boleslav is a Czech professional football club based in the city of Mladá Boleslav. Since 2004, the club has been participating in the Czech First League. In the Czech First League, Mladá Boleslav were runners up in 2005–06 and o ...

that subsequently saw AEK advance to the knock-out stage. Despite losing the following game to

Villarreal Villarreal (officially, in ) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain. The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's capital ( ...

at home, the goal proved to be the difference in AEK moving on to the next round. He would also go on to receive MVP of the last game of the season against Panathinaikos FC with a long range goal that tied the game at 1–1. The following season, after a personally very bad start, again Nsaliwa would play a major role in AEK's third-place finish to the season as well as be a part of the "Game of the Century" in the Greek cup final against Olympiacos FC. The match would go on to end 3–3, lasted more than three hours with two extra times and 19 penalty shots, with Nsaliwa scoring both of his, but AEK FC losing the game. Nsaliwa's third season at AEK started and ended questionably. Struggling with playing time and injuries, it was discovered at mid-season that he had a falling out with the head coach of the club

Dusan Bajevic Dusan may refer to: * Dušan, a Slavic given name * Dusan, a son of Ra's al Ghul * Stefan Dušan (1308–1355), emperor of Serbia See also *Doosan Group Doosan Group () is a South Korean multinational conglomerate corporation. In 2009, the cor ...

and he would go on to state in Greek news "I played a major role in the last four games before the Christmas break and then when I returned I never trained with the team again." No insight has been given as to exactly what happened, but after an unsuccessful transfer period in which he refused to join several other Greek teams, Romanian club

Rapid București Rapid(s) or RAPID may refer to: Hydrological features * Rapids, sections of a river with turbulent water flow * Rapid Creek (Iowa River tributary), Iowa, United States * Rapid Creek (South Dakota), United States, namesake of Rapid City Sport ...

and was speculated to have interest from a

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club, Nsaliwa signed a loan contract with the Norwegian top flight club

Lillestrøm SK Lillestrøm Sportsklubb is a Norwegian professional football club based in the city of Lillestrøm, just outside of the capital Oslo. Lillestrøm SK is a Norwegian football club based in Lillestrøm, playing in Eliteserien. The club was founde ...

, a month after the end of the 2009–10 winter transfer period, which was to last until June 2010. Before leaving, there was speculation in Greek news that the president of AEK tried to stop the loan transfer and have Nsaliwa stay, but it was later made clear that there was no relationship left between the player and coach. AEK would go on to write on its website "AEk FC would like to thank Tamandani Nsaliwa for his services to the club and wish him the best of luck in his future career."

Spain

After a rather mediocre loan spell in Norway, Nsaliwa was said to have signed for Spanish side

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...

. With the public backing of current Vice President of

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (, , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or RCD Mallorca, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Palma de Mallorca, ...

, former Betis coach and a former coach of Nsaliwa at AEK, Lorenzo Serra Ferrer. Although it is not well known what happened in the time Nsaliwa was in Seville to finish the agreement, according to the official website of Real Betis, it was stated that "Nsaliwa will not play in the club because there was no economic agreement between both parties." After this, the player decided to sue the club for the amount he claimed was the agreed contractual sum of €900,000. After six months of being without a club, in January 2011 he went on to sign for

SD Ponferradina Sociedad Deportiva Ponferradina, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Ponferrada, in the El Bierzo region, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 7 June 1922, it plays in Primera Federación - Group 1, holding home ma ...

in the Spanish Second Division.

Denmark

On 16 April 2012, it was announced that Nsaliwa had signed with

Esbjerg fB Esbjerg forenede Boldklubber (; commonly known as Esbjerg fB or EfB in short) is a Danish professional Association football, football club based in Esbjerg, West Jutland, Jylland, that plays in the Danish 1st Division, 1st division, the sec ...

of the

Danish 1st Division The 1st Division (''1. Division'') is the second-highest football league in Denmark, also known as NordicBet Liga for sponsorship reasons. From 1945 to 1991, the 1. Division was the name of the highest level of football in Denmark. With the for ...

until 30 June 2012.

International career

Nsaliwa played at the

2001 FIFA World Youth Championship The 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship took place in Argentina between 17 June and 8 July 2001. The 2001 championship was the 13th contested. The tournament took part in six cities, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Mendoza, Rosario, Salta, and Mar del ...

in Argentina, alongside

Julian De Guzman Julian Bobby de Guzman (born March 25, 1981) is a Canadian association football, soccer executive and former professional player and coach who currently serves as the Sporting Director for the New York Red Bulls in Major League Soccer. A midfie ...

and Mike Klukowski among others. He made his senior debut for

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

in an April 2001 LG Cup match against

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

and earned a total of 13 caps, scoring no goals. He has not yet represented Canada in

FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a set of competitive matches that a national association football team plays in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the men's FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments ar ...

matches but did play a game at the

2001 Confederations Cup The 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup was the fifth FIFA Confederations Cup and the third to be organized by FIFA. It was also the first in which the original hosts, Saudi Arabia, did not participate (they were the nation who founded the tournament, pr ...

and three at the

2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the sixth edition of the Gold Cup, the soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF). The tournament was once again held in the United States, in Miami and Pasadena. The forma ...

. His last full international game for Canada was played against the

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

at Qwest Field in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

on 31 May 2008. Once he renounced his Canadian citizenship in 2007, he became ineligible to play for Canada, and in fact no longer eligible to play international soccer, as he had been cap-tied by Canada.

Personal life

After he represented the Canada national team at full international level, Nsaliwa renounced his Canadian citizenship to become a citizen of Germany in 2007 to avoid local rules limiting the number of non-EU internationals permitted in a team. On 14 June 2020, he released the song "Sklira", in honor of the new stadium of his former club AEK Athens. The song got over 90,000 views on YouTube within three days. He is a budding artist with songs aside from "Sklira" including "Tsili Kafeneio".

Honours

1. FC Nürnberg * 2. Bundesliga: 2000–01 AEK Athens *

Superleague Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repl ...

runner-up: 2007–08 *

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

: runner-up: 2008–09 Canada *

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup () is an association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for men's senior national teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The tournament is held every two ...

: 3rd place,

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

Canada U-20 *

Concacaf The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football, abbreviated as CONCACAF ( ; typeset for branding purposes since 2018 as Concacaf), is one of FIFA's six continental governing bodies for association football. Its 4 ...

runner-up: 2000

References

External links

*
archive
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nsaliwa, Tamandani 1982 births Living people Canadian people of Malawian descent Naturalized citizens of Canada Naturalized citizens of Germany Canadian men's soccer players Black Canadian men's soccer players Soccer players from Edmonton Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders Canada men's international soccer players Canada men's youth international soccer players 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2. Bundesliga players Eliteserien players Super League Greece players Danish 1st Division players TFF 1. Lig players 1. FC Nürnberg players 1. FC Saarbrücken players SSV Jahn Regensburg players Panionios F.C. players AEK Athens F.C. players Lillestrøm SK players SD Ponferradina players Esbjerg fB players Kavala F.C. players Bucaspor footballers Canadian expatriate men's soccer players Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Norway Expatriate men's footballers in Norway Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey 21st-century Canadian sportsmen