Davies Nkausu

Chiparamba Great Eagles

Nkausu was born in Lusaka, Zambia. He began his career with Chiparamba in his native Zambia in 2002. In March 2003, Nkausu and Chiparamba teammate Dominic Yobe went on trial at English club Manchester United after being discovered by United's African scout Frank Lord, who visited Zambia in 2002. The duo became the first Zambian players to be involved with the club. The pair spent two weeks on trial, meeting first-team stars such as Phil Neville, Roy Keane and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as well as manager Sir Alex Ferguson. However, nothing came of the trial and Nkausu returned to Chiparamba. Reflecting on the trial in May 2012, following Ferguson's retirement, Nkausu claimed that the legendary manager had likened him to then-Arsenal midfielder Patrick Vieira. He added that Ferguson's encouragement had given the defender the "belief that I [could] make it in football" and admitted, "if I look back, I regret not signing and staying at Old Trafford."

Pretoria University

Seven months after the trial with Manchester United, Nkausu left Zambia for South African National First Division club Pretoria University, with the transfer being completed on 6 October 2003. He broke into the club's first team in the 2004–05 season, playing in twenty-nine of Pretoria's thirty-four games. Pretoria finished twelfth in 2004–05. In 2005–06 Davies again made twenty-nine league appearances, but this time he also scored one goal. Pretoria finished in eleventh…

Davies has been capped by Zambia on twenty-one occasions. He made his debut for the Chipolopolo on 19 November 2008, in a 3–0 friendly loss to Morocco. Nkausu earned his second international cap in January 2009, in Zambia's 1–0 friendly defeat to South Africa. He also played in the first half of Zambia's unofficial friendly match against Power Dynamos of the Zambian Premier League in October 2011. The match was a warm-up for a game against Libya. In December 2011 it was announced that Nkausu was included in Zambia's provisional 2012 Africa Cup of Nations squad. Nkausu was an unused substitute in Zambia's opening group stage match, a 2–1 win over Senegal on 21 January 2012. Nkausu made his first appearance of the tournament in Zambia's second game, a 2–2 draw with Libya on 25 January. Nkausu came on as a second-half substitute for midfielder Chisamba Lungu. He played the full ninety minutes of Zambia's final group stage game, a 1–0 win over Equatorial Guinea on 29 January 2012. The win ensured Zambia's progress to the quarter–finals. Nkausu also played the whole of the 3–0 quarter–final win over Sudan on 4 February 2012, helping Zambia book a semi–final showdown with tournament favourites Ghana, who coach Herve Renard described as "the best team in Africa". Zambia won the semi–final 1–0 to progress to the final of the competition, against Ivory Coast. Nkausu personally had a bad start to the semi–final, giving away a penalty kick just seven minutes into the game for a foul on…

SuperSport United have described Nkausu as a "utility player" who "has the ability to play anywhere in the SuperSport defence"; he has also been hailed as a "versatile defender" by the African media. Although he is usually deployed at right-back, Nkausu has also played as a left-back, central defender and midfielder for club and country. Indeed, in 2002 Nkausu played in central midfield for Zambia's U-17 team, alongside future African Cup of Nations-winning teammates Clifford Mulenga and Rainford Kalaba; two years later he occupied a centre-back berth in Zambia's 2004 CECAFA Cup campaign. Nkausu has been praised for his anticipation and interception skills, which helped him mark Salomon Kalou in the 2012 African Cup of Nations final. He is also known to have a good work–rate and a strong tackle, causing him to be considered a "good right-back against whom most wingers struggle". After a strong performance in the 2012 African Cup of Nations final, Nkausu was described as having "showed composure" and having a "big match temperament" that allowed him to cope with the pressure of such an important game. Nkausu has also been described as an "agile defender" who is known to possess a "long throw" when deployed as a full-back. However, critics have highlighted Nkausu's positional sense as an area of weakness, claiming that he is frequently "caught out of position drifting into midfield areas". It has also been suggested that the defender is "error–prone", contributing to…

Club

SuperSport United

South African Premier Division: 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10

International

Zambia

Africa Cup of Nations: 2012