Tonton Zola Moukoko is another cult player of the CM/FM series, who will stay in the history of the game forever.
Today he is remembered for what he could have been, not for what he was in the football world.
Juventude
Born in Kinshasa, in the former Zaire, now Congo, he sought refuge in Sweden with his older brother, Fedo, after his parents died.
Despite the difficulties adapting to the cold of the Scandinavian country, Tonton stood out in the Djurgårdens youth ranks, to the point of being considered one of the best young prospects in the world, attracting scouts from some European giants like Milan.
A friend's parents had gone on holiday to Greece and found an article talking about me as one of the youngsters to watch for the future; I think I was in 20th place.
At 15, he finally received Swedish nationality, was immediately brought into the youth national teams and, despite trials with Empoli and Bologna, chose to move to England: the destination for the small, nimble attacking midfielder would be Derby County.
Derby was the best option for me and my family, because it was easier to adapt culturally and to the English language.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6UM2AxmhR8
England and the unknown fame
After arriving in "Her Majesty's lands", he was initially placed in the youth team, rotating constantly with the reserve squad, where he put in excellent performances, but the crowd of followers and other curious people turning up just to watch him play left him baffled.
"It was all very strange; we played against smaller teams and they asked me for autographs.
I didn't understand what was going on, until one of my friends asked me if I didn't know I was the star of a computer game.
New tragedy and the beginning of the end
Soon after, tragedy returned to young Tonton's life.
His brother and mentor Fedo died; he became depressed and let his studies and football slide, which caused problems with the board of the East Midlands club and the subsequent termination of his contract in 2002, without ever playing for the first team.
Two years away from football followed.
My brother kept making trips to Congo for work; one day he was poisoned and died.
I went through a lot of hardship. I didn't care about football anymore; I needed a long time to deal with the loss. It didn't help that doors were half-closed in Sweden, because Djurgårdens hadn't been compensated financially when I left. I stopped being called up for the youth national teams and didn't feel welcome in the country.
The return to his adopted home
After returning to Sweden, Sven-Göran Eriksson, then England manager, tried to help him get back into competition at a smaller club, but Tonton had bigger clubs in mind; however, the answers were always the same: no.
Six years followed at smaller clubs in his country (Carlstad, Sleipner and Syrianska) and a brief adventure in Finland, at Atlantis, but his career never got the push it needed to reach the expected stardom.
He then decided it was time to try something different. With friends, he founded Kongo United in Sweden, in tribute to his country of birth, where he kept playing and also took on the role of coach to this day.
Looking back on his career, he admits he regrets some decisions, but understands there's no turning back now.
However, he considers himself happy with his family, with his wife, whom he met at school aged 12, and his son Zion, whom he wants to become a politician rather than a footballer.
But about Football Manager and its fans he shared a few curiosities:
The first time I had contact with the game was when I was invited to the game developer's studios.
To this day, I keep getting phone calls from all over the world asking me for a shirt and wishing me happy birthday.
