Zambia has been blessed with a lot of talented players from time in memorial, The likes of Godfrey “Ucar” Chitalu, Alex “Computer” Chola, Kelvin Mutale, Gibby “Bapwishe” Mbasela just to mention a few. One man has a distinctive. Description whenever his name is mentioned “King” is added and Rightfully so.
Kalusha Bwalya is one of the greatest son’s of Africa to have ever graced the football pitch. Africa’s most famous “Number 11” is well known for his trademark free kicks. In 1996 he was voted as the 12th best player in the world by FIFA. At the 1988 olympics former world Champions Italy got a test of what Kalu could do when he put 3 past their goalkeeper in the infamous 4-1 massacre of Italy by Zambia.
Kalusha Bwalya (The King Kalu) is a former Zambian International footballer, footballer
coach and former president of the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ). He is Zambia’s
second most capped player after Joseph Musonda, second all-time top goalscorer
behind Godfrey Chitalu, and is regarded by many as the greatest Zambian footballer of all time. He was named African Footballer of the Year in 1988 by the magazine France Football. [Only player to win the award from Sourthen Africa] and was nominated for the 1996 FIFA World Player of the Year where he was voted the 12th-best player in the world, the first to be nominated after playing the entire year for a non- European club.
On the international front, his earliest achievement was arguably one of the most
remarkable hat-tricks in modern football
history, with three-times World Cup champions
Italy on the receiving end in a 4–0 win for the
Zambians at the 1988 Olympics. Bwalya
acknowledges that the result was a surprise,
but adds: “Zambia is a sleeping giant in a way.
It is a small country in terms of football, but we
were the first African team to beat a European
power as convincingly as that.”
Club career
Bwalya’s career in Europe began at Cercle
Brugge in Belgium. In his first season, he was
the club’s top scorer and was twice voted
supporters’ player of the year. Such was his
impact that Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven took
him to the Eredivisie, and he describes winning
the championship twice in 1990/91 and
1991/92, under Bobby Robson, as a career
highlight.
He jokingly adds that: “Most of the time we
played in the opponents half, because the
team was so good. You know, we had Romario,
Gerald Vanenburg, Eric Gerets, Wim Kieft and
Hans van Breukelen and just to be with that
group, to train with them day in, day out, was
an experience.”
Bwalya’s next stop was Club America, to whom
he moved in 1994. The Mexican club’s home
ground is the legendary Azteca, an arena of
which the Zambian icon has very fond
memories. As he told FIFA.com: “I am
privileged to have played in the best stadium
in the world – and to have been able to call it
my home ground.” The Mexico experience in
general was cherished by Bwalya, who devoted
almost eight years of his career to the country
and recalls his time there as “probably the best
of my life”.
International career
Bwalya was a member of the national squad
that participated at the 1988 Olympic Games,
making his mark with a most famous hat-trick
in a 4–0 victory against Italy. At the full
international level, he appeared in 147
international matches and scored 100 goals
from 1983 to 2004.
He debuted against Sudan in April 1983 at Dag Hammarskjoeld Stadium in a Cup of Nations qualifier in Ndola, and scored his first goal against Uganda in a World Cup qualifier the following year at the same venue. He has appeared in multiple tournaments, including six editions of the African Cup of Nations.
Although he was captain of the national
football team during the qualification matches
for the 1994 World Cup, Kalusha was not on
the ill-fated flight on 27 April 1993 when the
entire team and its management were killed
when the plane crashed into the Atlantic
Ocean off Gabon.
Kalusha Bwalya, Africa’s most famous “Number 11″, took on the mantle of spearheading the revival of the national side the following year, captaining the side to the Runners-Up spot at the CAF African Nations Cup 1994 in Tunisia—where they succumbed to the Super Eagles of Nigeria; this was to be the peak of his own career and Zambian football for a long time to come. The national team finished in 3rd place at the next edition of the Africa Cup in South Africa in 1996, with Kalusha jointly winning the Golden Boot Award as the topscorer at the tournament.
He was a player-coach during the African 2006
World Cup qualification matches. On 5
September 2004, Zambia played Liberia, and
the match was tied 0–0 minutes before the
end. Kalusha, aged 41, came off the bench
during the second half, scoring from a trademark direct free kick to give Zambia a 1–0
victory and the lead of Africa’s Group 1.
However, Zambia finished third and failed to
qualify for the 2006 World Cup.
Despite the failure to qualify, Bwalya coached
Zambia at the 2006 African Cup of Nations.
Following their elimination in the first round,
however, Bwalya resigned from his post.
Kalusha’s dream of holding the coveted AFCON
trophy came 2012 when the Zambia National
Football Team, which was underestimated by
many football pundits upset the star-studded
Ivory Coast to win the final of the 2012
tournament.
As Zambian FA President, he joined the players and lifted the cup in a country where his former teammates perished in an aircraft disaster. This emotional story is narrated in the documentary film ” Eighteam”, directed by Juan Rodriguez-Briso.
Honours
2 x Eredivisie (Dutch League): 1990–91,
1991–92.
1 x KNVB Cup (Dutch Cup): 1989–90.
1 x Johan Cruijff Schaal (Dutch Super Cup):
1991–92.
2 x Pop Poll d’Echte Cercle Brugge K.S.V.:
Player of the Year: 1986–87 & 1987–88.
1 x African Footballer of the Year: 1988
2 x Cercle Brugge top scorer: 1987 & 1988..
