player has been plying his trade in Vietnam for the past seven years after a brief sojourn in England.
Yesterday, The Herald caught up with Tostao at his base in Vietnam — Saigon City or Ho Chi Minh City — where his club side Saigon are also based.
Tostao, son of former CAPS United coach Steve “The Dude” Kwashi, said he has scored four goals this season and this has helped Saigon to shoot to the top of the Vietnamese V League where they are sharing the number one position with a club called TNT.
Both clubs have 19 points but Tostao’s side are sitting on top of the pile because of a superior goal difference. There are 15 more games to play before the season ends.
“It’s still early days but I’m currently in good form at Saigon this season as I’ve scored four goals and made six assists.
“I’m still kicking (the ball) harder and we are on top of the table in the V League which is the top-flight league here in Vietnam.
“I’m now a utility player at Saigon because I sometimes play as a midfielder, winger or as an out and out striker… I can play anywhere,” Tostao said.
Tostao has been staying in Vietnam for the past seven years after he arrived in the Asian country through fellow Zimbabwean player and former teammate Kelvin Mushangazhike.
“I came here after my mate Kelvin Mushangazhike organised trials for me through his agent when I was in the United Kingdom where I had just completed my BSC Management Degree.
“I have won all cups in the V League including the league title, Super Cup (twice) and the FA Cup (once).
“In Vietnam, I’ve also played for other top sides like Dongtam, Hai Phong and Thanh Hoa before I joined Saigon.
“In fact, last season I was playing for Dongtam before I got transferred to Saigon at the start of the current season,” Tostao said.
A former Zimbabwe youth international, Tostao stayed in England for a couple of years before he found a new base in Vietnam.
In England, he played for that country’s lower league sides like EBS Fleet, Margate, Fisher and Dartford.
Once a dribbling wizard during his days at CAPS United, Tostao is now 32 and regards himself as a veteran on the pitch.
He believes he is still good enough to play for the Zimbabwe senior national team — the Warriors.
“I’m now 32 years old and a veteran but you know that age ain’t nothing but a number. Look at (top British players) Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes of Manchester United.
“Giggs is now 39 and Scholes 38 but they are still going strong. It’s all about how you look after yourself . . . I still think I can do a (good) job for the Warriors.
“If they need experience in their side, they can call old-warhorses like myself,” Tostao concluded.
Tostao made a grand entry onto the local football scene at the tender age of 17 with a mazy 35-minute performance in CAPS United colours against the now-defunct Premiership side Black Aces in the late 1990s.
He stayed at CAPS United for close to five years before he moved to England in where he found a new home in the English Nationwide Conference League where he signed a two-year contract with Gravesend and Northfleet in October 2002.
Tostao, who left Zimbabwe in 2000 to settle in England, was snapped by Gravesend from another Conference League side Fisher Athletic.
And Tostao was an instant hit a Gravesend, a side that is based in Kent, scoring in his first game in a 3-0 thrashing of Hereford United and was voted man-of-the-match.
But Tostao did not stay long at Gravesend as the club released him in August 2003 for off-the-field breaches of club discipline.
He then resurfaced in Vietnam in May 2005 when he joined that country’s former league champions Gach Dongtam Long An.
The former speedy winger joined Dongtam Long An after moving from England where he had graduated from the University of Hull.
And since then he has played for other top Vietnamese sides, including Hai Phong where he once signed a US$3 000 per month contract in 2006.

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