Jordan Zemura on cloud nine
THINGS have turned around so fast for him. His voice sounds faint but excited.
He was a mere glass-fitter just three years ago.
And Jordan Zemura (22) loved that job for it helped him feel the “real” world. But he can’t hide the fact that he was desperate. The Warriors star’s mother was spending a great deal of time on LinkedIn, scanning for clubs for her oldest son.
The then 19-year-old had been released by Charlton Athletic having spent eight years at that academy.
Things had to work out somehow. But they didn’t, maybe earlier enough for him. Then an opportunity to move to AFC Bournemouth presented itself.
He took it although it meant he would be moving away from London. He needed to put in work, loads of it.
“I am a hard worker naturally. I just needed that opportunity to prove myself. I was working very hard knowing one day, I would rise to become an important member of the senior team,” he said.
And that is what he has become. Zemura completed a remarkable feat after helping Bournemouth secure AFC promotion back into the English Premier League when they beat Nottingham Forest 1-0 at the Vitality Stadium on Tuesday night.
It was a match the Cherries needed to win to seal an automatic qualification berth against a team that also needed the victory to leapfrog the Dorset side to second place.
The match was a tight contest and looked very much destined for a goalless deadlock until Zemura produced a moment of magic.
Picking a loose ball on the flank and cutting inside, Zemura weaved his way past a thicket of Nottingham Forest’s defenders before he was hacked down for a free-kick which earned the win for Scott Parker’s side.
Zemura was sent tumbling by Scott McKenna on the edge of the box to give Bournemouth a dangerous free-kick.
Nottingham Forest were caught napping as Philip Billing, rather than going for the shot, rolled the ball out to the unmarked Kieffer Moore to beautifully fire into the bottom right corner. Moore’s golden goal is worth at least a whopping £200 million for Bournemouth as he sealed the Cherries promotion to the English Premier League.
Such is a measure of how much work Zemura has put in between 2019 and now as he has become a key player in the Cherries squad in his full professional debut season. Before making his bow in the 2021-2022 English Championship season, Zemura had played for the senior side just five times including his highlight games in the Carabao Cup against Manchester City and Crystal Palace.
He was registered for the current season which ends this weekend but Zemura was never expected to cement a place in the star-studded team.
In a way though, the departure of Diego Rico early in the season had given the Zimbabwean some hope of getting minutes in the season. He was not supposed to be in the team as Bournemouth prepared for their season-opener against West Bromwich Albion in August.
But with Jack Stacey out injured, Zemura was called in to fill the gap. He has never looked back since then, playing positive football week in, week out, winning the August Player of the Month as well as bulldozing his way in the English Championship Team of the Week twice.
Although he missed more than seven matches due to injuries which floored him thrice this term, including the recent one three weeks ago.
He also missed some matches when he was in the Warriors squad that did duty in the African Cup of Nations in Cameroon in January. It is his work ethic that has blown away most stakeholders, including his manager Scott Parker.
The left-back has scored three goals and provided a single assist for his team in the 32 matches he has taken part in this season.
With Bournemouth heading back into the English Premier League, Zemura, who was understood to be a wanted man by several top-flight teams, will join another Zimbabwean, Marvellous Nakamba, who plays for Aston Villa.
He will be entering an exclusive company which also has Bruce Grobbelaar, Peter Ndlovu, Benjani Mwaruwari as well as Nakamba as the only Zimbabweans to have played in the English Premier League.
“I am extremely happy that we managed to secure promotion into the English Premier League. It is a dream come true for me. I would like to salute my teammates, our manager and everyone else involved including the supporters for this achievement,” said Zemura. “We needed to nail it down and we have done that with a game to spare. We are not losing focus, we are looking forward to the next game and obviously the English Premier League next season.” Zemura is expected to sign a new lucrative contract in the coming weeks.