New Zealand football player

James Mzamo Musa ( born 1 April 1992 ) is a New Zealand master football player who plays as a midfielder for USL Championship club Phoenix Rising .

early life [edit ]

Born in Plymouth, England, Musa and his family moved to New Zealand in 1999. Musa described New Zealand as “ a dear plaza to grow up ”. [ 2 ]

Reading: James Musa

Club career [edit ]

Wellington Phoenix [edit ]

Scouted by the Phoenix as one of the club ‘s mandatary Under-21 players, Musa, a schoolboy at Wanganui High School, signed a professional contract with the Wellington kit in June 2010 anterior to the start of the 2010-11 A-League season. [ 3 ] Musa made his first team début on 27 November 2010 at home against Melbourne Victory, a game he started at left back in put of the suspend Ben Sigmund. It made him the 50th player to take the field for the Phoenix and besides their 3rd youngest debutant behind Kosta Barbarouses and Marco Rojas. [ 4 ] Following the 2010/11 A-League season, Musa was released from the Phoenix. [ 5 ]

Waitakere City [edit ]

Musa signed for Waitakere City in the Northern League, New Zealand in June 2011 to help prepare himself before the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup [ 6 ] Following a successful 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup for the New Zealand U-20 team, he was linked with Bradford City in England. Despite early reports that Musa had signed a biennial bargain with the Bantams, the distribute fell through when the coach, Peter Jackson offered his resignation to the club. In 2012 Musa again played for Waitakere City where he was able to get competitive games before the 2012 Summer Olympics in London .

team Wellington [edit ]

On 20 October 2011 Musa signed for Team Wellington to play in the ASB Premiership. [ 7 ] He scored his first goal for the clubhouse in a 3–2 last pant win against Waikato FC on 5 February 2012. [ 8 ] Musa helped Team Wellington to a 4th-place ending in the league where they went on to beat league winners Auckland City in a two leg semi-final 1–0 at home and 4–1 aside to secure a place in the ASB Premiership Grand Final against Waitakere United where they succumbed to a 4–1 loss at Trusts Stadium, Auckland .

Fulham [edit ]

Following a substitute appearance for the New Zealand U-23 team at the London 2012 Olympic Games against Egypt at Old Trafford, Musa was approached by English Premier League golf club Fulham for a trial. [ 9 ] After a successful trial, Musa put penitentiary to paper and signed for Fulham on 31 August 2012. He joined on a annual consider with an extra year option. [ 10 ] A workweek after joining Fulham, Musa was promptly able to adapt at Fulham [ 11 ] It was confirmed on 4 January 2013 that James would go on a one-month lend to Conference National club Hereford United to gain first-team experience. [ 12 ] On 30 January 2013, his loan was extended by a further calendar month, [ 13 ] and this was late extended again until 4 April 2013. [ 14 ] On 26 March 2013, Musa returned to Fulham due to illness. [ 15 ] Musa was one of twelve players released by Fulham at the end of the 2012–2013 Premier League season. [ 16 ] After being released by the cabaret, Musa was linked with scots Premiership side Hearts. [ 17 ]

Team Wellington and South Melbourne [edit ]

After leaving Fulham, Musa returned to New Zealand, where he joined Team Wellington for the moment clock. [ 18 ] Musa signed for South Melbourne of the National Premier Leagues Victoria in Australia on 7 March 2014, [ 19 ] and joined them following his sides 1–0 loss to Auckland City FC in the ASB Premiership distinguished concluding on 16 March 2014. The 1–0 loss to Auckland City FC was Musa ‘s second consecutive frustration in the ASB Premiership grand final having previously lost to Waitakere United in 2012 .

Saint Louis FC [edit ]

On 25 February 2015 Musa signed with USL expansion club Saint Louis FC. Head coach Dale Schilly is quoted as saying “ At 22 years honest-to-god, James brings loads of experience to Saint Louis FC … His experiences with Fulham and the New Zealand National Team have helped shape him into a clear actor. He has demonstrated very good defend instincts, is good in the air travel, and possesses sound open-field defend and track. ” [ 20 ]

return to Team Wellington [edit ]

In November 2015, he returned to ASB Premiership to play for Team Wellington during the USL offseason. [ 21 ]

render to Saint Louis FC [edit ]

Musa returned to Saint Louis for the 2016 USL season. [ 22 ] On 9 November 2016, Saint Louis FC announced that Musa would n’t be returning to the club for the 2017 season. [ 23 ]

Swope Park Rangers [edit ]

On 30 November 2016, Swope Park Rangers, the reserve team for Sporting Kansas City, announced their sign of Musa along with his teammate from Saint Louis FC Parker Maher. [ 24 ]

Sporting Kansas City [edit ]

In August 2017, Musa signed a first-team contract with Sporting Kansas City for the end of the 2017 season with options for 2018, 2019, and 2020. [ 25 ] On 12 August 2017 Musa made his first team debut against Seattle Sounders FC .

Phoenix Rising FC [edit ]

On 1 March 2018, Musa signed with Phoenix Rising FC who play in the United Soccer League. [ 26 ]

Minnesota United [edit ]

On 17 January 2020, Musa made the move back to MLS, joining Minnesota United. [ 27 ] Minnesota opted to decline their abridge option on Musa following the 2020 season. [ 28 ]

recurrence to Phoenix Rising FC [edit ]

On 5 March 2021, Musa re-signed with Phoenix Rising FC. [ 29 ]

International career [edit ]

Musa was selected for the New Zealand U-20 team to compete in the 2011 OFC U-20 Championship in April 2011 and the Suwon Cup in Korea. During the OFC U-20 championship he played in all four matches, scoring a hat-trick during the group stage and helping the Junior All Whites win the tournament and secure qualification to the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup at which he played all three games against Cameroon, Uruguay and Portugal. [ 30 ] In February 2012, Musa was selected in New Zealand ‘s 20 man police squad to play two friendly matches against Saudi Arabia, coached by former FC Barcelona Manager Frank Rijkaard in Melbourne, Australia in formulation for the 2012 OFC Men ‘s Pre-Olympic Football Tournament to be held in Taupo, New Zealand. On 25 March 2012 the New Zealand U-23 men ‘s team secured qualification for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London with a 1–0 succeed over Fiji with a coolly finished penalty from Greg Draper. Musa played a big function in the Heart of defense during the qualifying crusade with the New Zealand U-23 team going through unbeaten. He besides scored 2 goals during the tournament. On 21 June 2012, Musa was named as one of the 6 defenders in Neil Emblen ‘s 18-man squad for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, with Ryan Nelsen named as captain and as one of the three overage players. [ 31 ] Musa made one appearance for the New Zealand U-23 team at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. He came on at left back in the 1–1 string against Egypt in locate of the hurt Ian Hogg in the 63rd minute at Old Trafford. Musa was called into the All Whites squad for a 30 May friendly in Auckland against South Africa by interim passenger car Neil Emblen. Musa made his international introduction on 30 May 2014 against South Africa, coming on as a stand-in. The couple ended in a nil-all draw .

References [edit ]