Tam Nsaliwa facts for kids

Tamandani Wazayo Phillip "Tam" Nsaliwa (born 28 January 1982) is a former professional soccer player. He played as a midfielder. Tam was born in Malawi. He played for the Canadian national team in international games.

Tam's Soccer Journey

Starting Out in Soccer

Tam Nsaliwa was born in Lilongwe, Malawi. He later moved to Edmonton, Canada. There, he played for local youth soccer teams. One of his teams, Edmonton Southwest United, was the first boys' team from their club to reach the Under-15 National Championships. They finished fourth in the competition. He also played for Edmonton North West United. Tam represented the Alberta Soccer Association on many youth teams. When he was 16, he moved to Germany to continue his soccer career.

Playing in Germany

In Germany, Tam joined the youth program at Energie Cottbus for one season. He then went back to Canada for a year. After that, he returned to Germany to play for 1. FC Nürnberg. This team was in the 2. Bundesliga, which is the second-highest soccer league in Germany. Even though he didn't play much, his team won the league title. This meant they moved up to the top league, the Bundesliga.

Tam then moved to 1. FC Saarbrücken. He continued to play in the second division for five more years. This included one season with Jahn Regensburg. In 2007, Tam changed his Canadian citizenship to German citizenship. This helped him play more easily in European teams. There were rules about how many players from outside the European Union a team could have.

Adventures in Greece

In 2006, Tam moved to Greece. He joined Panionios, a team in the Super League Greece, which is Greece's top soccer league. Their new German coach, Ewald Lienen, brought him to the team. Tam had a great first season playing in a top league. He was a co-captain and helped his team finish fifth in the league. This earned Panionios a spot in the UEFA Cup for the next year. This was only the second time in the club's history they had reached this European competition.

Tam scored an important goal on the last day of the season against AEK Athens. Soon after, he announced he would join AEK Athens on a three-year contract.

Time with AEK Athens

In his first season at AEK Athens, Tam quickly became a favorite with the fans. He played very well in a Champions League qualifying game against Sevilla. He played alongside famous players like Akis Zikos and World Cup winner Rivaldo. Even though AEK didn't move forward in the Champions League, Tam was seen as a star player.

That season, AEK Athens had a strong year. They finished second in the league. In his first UEFA Cup season with AEK, Tam scored the only goal against FK Mladá Boleslav. This goal helped AEK move on to the next stage of the competition. He also won the "Most Valuable Player" award in the last game of the season against Panathinaikos FC. He scored a long-range goal that tied the game.

The next season, Tam played a big part in AEK finishing third. He was also part of a very exciting game in the Greek Cup final against Olympiacos FC. The match ended 3-3 and went on for more than three hours, with two extra times and 19 penalty shots. Tam scored both of his penalty shots, but AEK FC lost the game.

Tam's third season at AEK was challenging. He struggled with playing time and injuries. It was later known that he had a disagreement with the team's coach, Dusan Bajevic. Tam said he played a lot before Christmas but then didn't train with the team again. After not finding a new team during the transfer period, Tam signed a loan contract with Lillestrøm SK, a top team in Norway. AEK Athens thanked Tam for his time with the club and wished him well.

Playing in Spain and Denmark

After his time in Norway, Tam signed with SD Ponferradina in the Spanish Second Division in January 2011. He had been without a club for six months before this.

On April 16, 2012, it was announced that Tam Nsaliwa had signed with Esbjerg fB in the Danish 1st Division until June 30, 2012.

Playing for His Country

Tam Nsaliwa played for the Canadian national team. He played in the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship in Argentina. He was on the team with players like Julian De Guzman.

He played his first senior game for Canada in April 2001 against Egypt. He played a total of 13 games for Canada, but he did not score any goals. He played in the 2001 Confederations Cup and three games in the 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

His last international game for Canada was against Brazil on May 31, 2008. After he changed his Canadian citizenship to German citizenship in 2007, he could no longer play for Canada. This also meant he could no longer play international soccer because he had already played for Canada.

Tam's Life Outside Soccer

After playing for the Canadian national team, Tam Nsaliwa changed his Canadian citizenship to German citizenship in 2007. This was to help him play more easily in European soccer leagues.

On June 14, 2020, Tam released a song called "Sklira." He made the song to honor the new stadium of his former club, AEK Athens. The song became very popular, getting over 90,000 views on YouTube in just three days. Tam is also a growing artist with other songs, including "Tsili Kafeneio."

Awards and Achievements

Canada U20

• Second place in Concacaf: 2000

1. FC Nürnberg

• Won 2. Bundesliga: 2000–01

AEK Athens

• Second place in Superleague Greece: 2007–08
• Second place in Greek Cup: 2008–09

See also

In Spanish: Tamandani Nsaliwa para niños