Kings Kangwa may be settling into life in Athens, but his head, for one evening at least, was still in the Negev. The Zambian midfielder, who left Hapoel Beer Sheva for Panathinaikos less than a month ago, shared a story on his private Instagram showing he was following his old club's Champions League play-off decider against Sabah, ONE reports.
It is a small gesture, but a telling one. Kangwa was one of the most popular imports in recent Beer Sheva history, and his interest in a match with the club's greatest modern prize on the line suggests the attachment did not end when the transfer papers were signed.
The stakes could hardly be higher for Beer Sheva. Having beaten Sabah 2-1 in the first leg in Bucharest on August 19 - Jabon East and Igor Zlatanović turning the tie around after Veljko Simić's early opener - the Israeli champions traveled to Baku needing only a draw at the Tofiq Bahramov Stadium to reach the Champions League league phase for the first time in the club's history. A narrow one-goal win for Sabah would have sent the tie to extra time; anything more and the Azerbaijani side would go through instead.
There is an irony in Kangwa cheering the cause from afar. His own Champions League adventure at Beer Sheva is over, and his new club have not yet nailed down their own continental football for the season - Panathinaikos are still fighting through their own play-off, against Czech side Hradec Králové, with the second leg of that tie scheduled for August 26-27.
Kangwa's spell in Beer Sheva ended with the kind of send-off reserved for club legends. He returned to the team for a second spell after several years playing in Europe, and by the time he left this summer he had been voted Israeli football's Footballer of the Year on the back of a 12-goal season, with fans naming him among the ten greatest figures in the club's history and his name earmarked for the honor wall in Turner Stadium's VIP section.
The €3.8 million move to Panathinaikos, on a contract running until 2030, was framed by Kangwa himself as an honor rather than a farewell to the club that made him. His Instagram story from Baku - or wherever he was watching from - was a reminder that, for the player himself, the two chapters are not so easily separated.
