Is Tembo what the doctor ordered for ECCO?

EDWARD BULE
Correspondent | Friday September 2, 2011 00:00

 

ECCO, like most teams, is not leaving anything to chance. The Francistown outfit experienced some instability in the coaching department, which led to the departure of their head coach Max 'Malome' Moyo last season.

'I was back home in Zambia when my friend, Denis Kabwe, who once played for Township Rollers here, informed me that there was a vacancy at ECCO after he had seen an advert in the local papers,' remembers Christopher Tembo, the new man at the head of ECCO's technical department.

Oozing with confidence, Tembo believes he is the right man for the job. He is aware of the high expectations Mamoja Disk supporters have after enjoying a history of success in the not so distant past. Tembo reveals during an interview that although he comes from a football family, with his father and elder brothers having kicked the pigskin competently, he was allowed to play football only after completing his secondary school studies as his parents insisted that he could not successfully serve too masters at the same time.

Tembo first played for Malaiti, a then Second Division team in Lusaka before joining and playing for ZANACO from 1989 until 1997 when he retired. Not only did he captain ZANACO for a long time but he also represented Chipolopolo, Zambia's national team.

He remembers with a hint of sadness in his eyes that had he not been dropped for the particular trip to West Africa where the entire Zambian national team perished in a plane crash, he would have died as well in that accident. He had been training with the squad but was, mercifully, dropped for the game.

After retirement, he was sponsored to do a coaching course, which was conducted by the Dutch Football Association. He would later go to the Seychelles for his CAF coaching diploma. Tembo is also a proud holder of the CAF C License.

In 1998, he was appointed assistant coach at ZANACO, where he worked with Fred Mwila who later coached in Botswana. ZANACO won the Mosi and Coca-Cola Cups as well as the Premier League in 2002. The team defended the league in the subsequent year. It was also during his days at ZANACO that the team's youth side won the Amateur League. In 2005, the tactician was appointed head coach for Nakambala Leopards, a sugar company team in the First Division league. The rural team made history by being the first team from a remote area to gain promotion to the Premier League. In 2006, the team finished among the top eight in the league.

Tembo coached the Zambian Under-17 side in 2008. Last year, he was head coach of Lusaka Football Club before he crossed the border into Botswana. Evidently relishing the challenge, the former hard-tackling left back reveals that his engagement at ECCO is his first foreign appointment.

Asked to reveal his targets, the Zambian could only choose to be diplomatic by saying, 'We are expected to do our best and we shall do just that. It is all about teamwork. With the support of all stakeholders, the sky is the limit.' His charges have so far played three games getting all three results, a win, draw and loss.