John Phiri rues missing out on signing for Atletico Madrid

In life certain opportunities present themselves once and at hindsight John Phiri reflects on how missing out on the chance of joining Spanish giants Atletico Madrid could have been a killer blow to prospects of gracing the big stage.

A top defender in Poland at the time, Phiri says he was excited at what would have been a life changing opportunity which ultimately did not work out, “It was a move which was delayed by my manager Wieslaw Grabowski, he was caught in between business wise I think, the day we were supposed to meet in Germany for me to fly to Spain as my manager he was not able to because he had other pressing commitments as well in Denmark where one of his Zambian players were supposed to conclude a deal. We missed the time frame required to travel to Spain because they needed a player urgently so we missed the deadline as they needed to sign a player there and there”.

Had the move materialised Phiri believes he would have flourished in Spain, “At the time I was at my peak while in Poland. Its sad the move did not materialise otherwise I would have had the opportunity of rubbing shoulders with the best but anyway that is life” said Phiri.

The former Zimbabwe national soccer team defender opened up on his footballing career on the Zim Soccernet yester year football programme “In Touch With A Legend” which returns on the Zim Soccernet facebook page this Friday at 12:00pm. The popular show had taken a one month break following the end of season 1. The show featuring John Phiri marks the start of season 2.