Growing up, Sunrise and Rwanda U23 midfielder Moses Nyamurangwa had a dream of playing football and follow the footsteps of his Brazilian idol Casemiro. He is now rightly cast in the mood of the Manchester United star when he is on the field of play.

But his parents didn’t want him to play football at his tender age. They instead encouraged him to focus on studies.

He was stopped from playing until he went to university.

"My parents stopped me from playing football, they did not like it,” 20-year-old Nyamurangwa told Weekend Sport in an interview.

"I started playing again when I was no longer under their supervision," he added.

Born in Nyagatare District, the midfielder started his career at "Dream Yaga Center &039;' near his home place. He was at the time one of the key players at his secondary school where he did Mathematics, Economics and Geography.

After high school studies, the youngster moved to APR Academy where he spent one year before he secured a government scholarship to study accounting at University of Rwanda’s Nyagatare Campus.

Since he arrived at the campus in 2019, he went to do trials at Sunrise and he successfully passed.

Although his parents wanted him to concentrate on studies from a young age, Nyamurangwa was convinced that he would combine football with studies.

He was confident of having a great career in either field.

"In life, you have to follow your passion. You excel in things you are passionate about,” he said.

"Both football and education are my life so it was easy joining the two. There will always be life after football so after football, I can work in the corporate world with my University certificate," he further noted.

In his prime, Nyamurangwa was the ideal workaholic midfielder any coach would be proud to have in his team.

The midfielder, who is now enjoying football life under head coach Innocent Seninga, insists that his performance in the first round of the current 2022/23 season remains so far his best in his career where he scored once and assisted three goals in his nine league appearances.

His performance caught the attention of Yves Rwasamanzi who selected him in his Amavubi U23 team that played the 2023 AFCON U23 qualifiers.

"This is my best first round ever in Sunrise because it was this great performance which made me get called up into the national U23."

As a budding talent, Nyamurangwa has players he looks up to. His key inspirations are Rwandan midfielder Djihad Bizimana and Casemiro who, he says, pushes him to always work hard so he one day hit the level of football that the Brazilian is playing.

Career aspirations

Nyamurangwa started to realize his dream when he was summoned to play for Amavubi U23 in 2022. But the youngster insists he isn’t done yet until he earns a call up to represent his nation at senior level beside playing professional football abroad.

"I want to achieve a lot in football, I want to play for the Amavubi. It’s a nation that I cherish, that I feel I owe. I want to let my talent in football do the service for my country,” the ambitious player said.

"Rwandans should expect a lot from me. I want to help my country qualify for the AFCON and also win trophies,” he added.

"I also want to also play at the highest level in Europe or elsewhere."

Best moment?

Nyamurangwa may not have achieved a lot in football, but the day he was given a callup in the U23 national team and that day Amavubi defeated Libya 3-0 to complete a comeback in the AFCON U23 qualifiers remain his greatest moments so far in his football career.

"It was a great feeling," he recalls, when asked about the historic comeback that saw Rwanda eliminate Libya in Huye.