Ngwenya’s belongings are half a world away
Joseph Ngwenya was partly to blame for the international hang-up that kept him from joining D.C. United for the start of the 2011 preseason.
When Houston didn’t pick up his contract at the end of last year, Ngwenya thought his future lay outside of MLS. So he had an apartment full of belongings put on a ship home to his native Zimbabwe.
The container was still en route when Ngwenya was supposed to be headed back to the United States after D.C. United picked him in the re-entry draft.
“I had to go in person to clear it at the border,” Ngwenya said. “If I’m not there to clear it, the amount of duty to bring it in would’ve been an astronomical amount.”
As a result, most of his stuff is half a world away, but Ngwenya is as settled as he has been in years, even if he hasn’t quite been able to get into the D.C. United lineup as much as he wants.
“I’m using most of my girlfriend’s stuff,” Ngwenya said.
After a career-high seven goals in 2007 — plus the game-tying goal as the Dynamo captured the MLS Cup title at RFK Stadium — he went searching for a European experience. It resulted in some issues abroad that were out of his control.
He spent a half-season in Austria, then landed in Bayern Munich’s summer preseason camp courtesy of then-manager Juergen Klinsmann, who had been the technical director at Los Angeles when the Galaxy drafted Ngwenya in 2004.
| D.C. United at Red Bulls |
| When » Saturday, 7:30 p.m. |
| Where » Red Bull Arena, |
| Harrison, N.J. |
| TV » Comcast SportsNet |
“You know how it is with the media. They’re like, ‘It’s a tryout,'” Ngwenya said. “It was more just training to stay fit while looking for a club.”
But the exposure helped Ngwenya earn a three-year contract with Antalyaspor in southern Turkey, which seemed like a good deal until he said he learned a harsh lesson: When his team didn’t win, he often wouldn’t get paid.
“If you told a player from America that you wouldn’t be able to get your salary for six or seven months, it would be like, ‘Oh no,'” Ngwenya said. “After a year I was like, I don’t know if I want to do this for the next two or three years.”
Ngwenya took his case to FIFA, waited patiently and finally was granted international clearance to rejoin Houston last season before the move to the District.
“That was my first preseason in a while,” Ngwenya said. “Normally I join teams in the middle of the season.”
The 30-year-old started United’s first two matches of 2011 but has appeared in only six of the last 14 games, including two more starts.
“With the number of new players in the team, I think we’re still in the hunt,” Ngwenya said. “This weekend is a big one. Hopefully, we can come up with three points.”
