Category: Football

By Michael Kachitsa Kennedy Malunga (born 14 May 1970) is a former Malawi international football midfielder who played for clubs in Malawi, South Africa and Belgium. Born in Malawi, Malunga played football in the local league for MTL Wanderers. He joined South African side Mamelodi Sundowns F.C. with his brother, Holman, in August 1985. He joined Belgian Pro League side Cercle Brugge K.S.V. for the 1987-88 season, but made only one competitive appearance for the club, while finishing sixth in the voting for 1987 African Player of the Year. He moved to K.V. Kortrijk the following season. In 1990, Malunga returned to South Africa to play for Dynamos F.C. and Port Elizabeth Blackpool. He retired from his football career there in the early 1990s. Former Malawi international midfielder, Kennedy ‘Senator’ Malunga was among top 10 African great players, who were nominated for the prestigious African Player of the Year award in 1987, finishing on position six. What’s very interesting is that Kennedy, then playing for Club Brugge in Belgium, was ranked 6th with 24 points, beating Ghana’s great player Abedi Ayew Pele, then playing for Olympique Marseille in France who got 17 points and was placed number 8. Another notable African player, Cameroon’s Roger Milla, playing for Montpellier in France, got 14 points and was at position 10. Source -Wikipedia

By Michael Kachitsa The Malawi national football team, nicknamed The Flames, represents Malawi in international football and is controlled by the Football Association of Malawi. Before 1966, they were known as the Nyasaland national football team. Nyasaland which was the name of the country Malawi before independence lost 0–12 against Gold Coast then, now called Ghana (Malawi; 15 October 1962). This is the Malawi National Football team’s biggest defeat, which happened in the African cup of nations. The game was played in Nyasaland (Malawi), Blantyre at Rangeley Stadium now Kamuzu Stadium. The stadium was originally named Rangeley Stadium during the colonial era to commemorate British civil servant William H. J. Rangeley. Malawi 8–1 Botswana Malawi; 13 July 1968 is Malawi’s biggest win. A feat that was repeated when Malawi beat Djibout in 2010 by the same margin. Source-Wikipedia

by Michael Kachitsa Born in Blantyre, Kinnah began playing football for local side Big Bullets F.C., and in 1982 was offered a contract by UAE club Sharjah SC. He was not allowed to leave the country, but he moved to Swaziland to play for Manzini Wanderers where he would finish his playing career. Phiri was the inspiration behind the Malawi national football team’s finest hours in the late 1970s when Malawi twice won the East and Central Africa Challenge Cup. He scored 71 goals in 115 games. He is currently joint 11th international top goal scorer in the world alongside the former German striker Miroslav Klose.

By Michael Kachitsa The Premier Soccer League (PSL) is the trading name of the National Soccer League (NSL). It is an Affiliate Member of the South African Football Association (SAFA) and the administrator of professional football in the Republic of South Africa. The PSL was established in 1996. Manning Rangers were the first to be crowned champions of the PSL in 1997 when Gordon Igesund-coached the side and stunned all and sundry by winning the title ahead of a number of more fancied opponents. From 1998 to 2000 the league was dominated by Mamelodi Sundowns, who pulled off a hat-trick of titles. In 2001, Igesund moved to Orlando Pirates and helped the ‘Buccaneers’ secure the title. The following season he moved to Cape Town-based Santos, and steered it to win the league title, thus becoming the first coach to win the championship with three different clubs. He then won it again with Mamelodi Sundowns in the 2007/08 season. The league was reduced from 18 to 16 teams after the end of the 2001/2002 season to avoid fixture congestion, causing two teams, Ria Stars and Free State Stars, to be disbanded. Kaizer Chiefs successfully defended their league title in 2005 after they won the prestigious trophy in 2004 for the first time in a decade. The 2005/2006 season saw Mamelodi Sundowns capturing the title for the fourth time. The PSL has helped raise the standard of club soccer in South Africa, providing the sport with better media coverage and much-improved revenue through strong sponsorship deals. Sponsors include renowned brands like Nedbank, Telkom, Absa, and the official suppliers are Castle, Coca-Cola and Vodacom. It has also provided a platform for local players to make their mark and catch the eye of overseas clubs.

On the evening of 27 April 1993, a DHC-5 Buffalo transport aircraft of the Zambian Air Force crashed into the Atlantic Ocean shortly after taking off from Libreville, Gabon. The flight was carrying most of the Zambian national football team to a FIFA World Cup Qualifier against Senegal in Dakar At 10pm local time on Saturday, Zambia will walk out to face Senegal at the new stadium in Bata, Equatorial Guinea. It will be the second match at this year’s African Cup of Nations, and the minds of most of the crowd may still be on the opening game, which will have just finished at the same stadium. Not Zambian minds, though; they’ll be much further away. They’ll be thinking of 27 April 1993, when another Zambia team set off to play Senegal in a World Cup qualifier. That team, the best Zambia has ever had and potentially one of the greatest in African history, never arrived. This will be the 10th time the sides have met since then, but what makes this game particularly poignant is that it was just a few miles south of Bata that their plane went down, crashing into the Atlantic shortly after refuelling in the Gabonese capital, Livrebelle. It was a very tragic moment.

By Michael Kachitsa After beginning his career in his home country of Liberia, Weah spent 14 years playing for clubs in France, Italy, and England. Arsene Wenger first brought him to Europe, signing him for Monaco in 1988. Weah moved to PSG in 1992 where he won League 1 in 1994 and became the top scorer of the 1994–95 UEFA Champions League. He signed for A C milan in 1995 where he spent four successful seasons, winning Serie A twice.  His most notable goal in Italy saw him run the length of the field against Verona . He moved to the Premier League towards the end of his career and had spells at Chelsea and Manchester City, winning the FA Cup at the former, before returning to France to play for Marseille in 2001, and subsequently ending his career with Al–Jazira in 2003. FourFourTwo magazine named Weah one of the best players never to win the UEFA Champions League. At international level, Weah represented Liberia at the African Cup of Nations on two occasions, winning 53 caps and scoring 13 goals for his country. He played an international friendly in 2018 where his number 14 jersey was retired. Scott Murray in The Guardian writes Weah was “hamstrung in World Cup terms by hailing from a global minnow”. He is regarded as one of the best players never to have played at the tournament. Weah was sworn in as president on 22 January 2018, making him the 4th youngest serving president in Africa, marking Liberia’s first democratic transition in 74 years. He cited fighting corruption, reforming the economy, combating illiteracy and improving life conditions as the main targets of his presidency. Two other world class African strikers, Didier Drogba and Samuel Eto’o, attended the inauguration.

By Michael Kachitsa Drogba recalls that he literally gave up all hopes when Thomas Muller scored from a header in the 83rd minute of the match. But the Juan Mata emboldened the Ivorian’s spirits as the two combined in the 88th minute to score the equaliser for their team when Mata’s corner was headed in by Drogba. “As I replaced the ball on the centre spot for the restart, I was just saying ‘No, no, no!’ But Juan Mata, all 24 years old, was the one to urge me on. ‘No, Didier’, he said, ‘you have to believe, you have to believe.” The match had gone to a penalty shoot out. Didier Drogba had the deciding penalty which he successfully converted for Chelsea to win the UEFA 2012 Champions League Final.

By Michael Kachitsa The biennual African Cup of Nations tournament has been played since 1957 and is thereby older than the corresponding European championship. In February 1957, beneath the heat of the Nubian Desert in Sudan, few could have predicted the expansion of the African Cup of Nations. There the Confederation of African Football was formed and the organisation planned the first tournament for the following year in Khartoum. However, as the start date drew near, there were a few hurdles to overcome, such as the exclusion of South Africa after the apartheid regime failed to approve a multi-racial team. So with South Africa out, the tournment came down to a play-off between just three teams – Egypt, hosts Sudan and Ethiopia. Few Africans today would have heard of the Algerian Lalmas, Ghanaian dribbling wizard Osei Kofi or Ethiopian captain Italo Vassalo – they were among a host of legends to play in the Nations Cup tournaments of the 1960s. Since the early days, North Africa – and Ghana in particular – has maintained its reputation, while the other pioneers Ethiopia and Sudan have deteriorated. In the space of 30 years there has been an amazing shift of power – a classic between Ethiopia and Sudan (both former champions) in the 1960s is now overshadowed by a match between Cameroon against Nigeria.

By Michael Kachitsa Nowadays when we see football players dancing after scoring a goal or winning a game, we may take that for granted thinking it has always been like that since the game’s invention. This is far from the truth, such entertaining celebrations are as recent as the 1980’s ironically motivated trademark by one of Africa’s greatest players, Cameroonian Roger Milla. Roger Milla, in full Albert Roger Milla, original name Albert Roger Miller, (born May 20, 1952, Yaoundé, Camer.), Cameroonian football (soccer) player, renowned for his impeccable technique and grace under pressure. A forward, he starred on the Cameroon national team that became the first African squad to reach the quarterfinals of the World Cup. He was twice named African Player of the Year (1976, 1990). The young Milla’s skill and imagination drew the attention of the Éclair club of Douala, who signed him as an amateur in 1965. He later joined the Leopards of Douala (1970–72), with whom he won his first national championship in 1972. Having moved to Tonnerre of Yaoundé (1972–78), he had a terrific year in 1975, scoring the winning goal in the Cameroon Cup final and playing a leading role in the club’s victorious campaign in the first African Cup Winners’ Cup. Milla moved to France and played with Valenciennes (1978–79), AS Monaco (1979–80), Bastia (1980–84), Saint-Étienne (1984–86), and Montpellier (1986–89). At Bastia he scored a fantastic goal in the team’s victory in the 1981 French Cup final; he also won a French Cup in 1980 with Monaco. He ended his club career in 1990 after a season with Saint-Pierre in Réunion. In the 1980s and ’90s Milla and Cameroon’s national team, known as the Indomitable Lions, became world famous. He was the leading scorer in the two African Cup of Nations victories claimed by Cameroon in 1984 and 1988. He played in the 1982 World Cup finals, when Cameroon earned international respect after a superb performance in the tournament. At the 1990 World Cup, 38-year-old Milla, playing as a substitute, scored four goals and led Cameroon to the quarterfinals. Milla’s celebration dance after his winning goal against Colombia—a kind of shimmy performed near the corner flag—inspired imitations by goal scorers throughout the football world. Coming out of retirement for the 1994 World Cup, Milla, then 42 years old, became the oldest player to score a goal in the World Cup finals. Milla is mostly remembered for his trademark goal celebration of running to the corner flag and performing a dance. In the years that have followed, he has been recognised as a pioneer of the many unconventional and imaginative goal celebrations seen since then. In 2004 he was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world’s greatest living players. In 2007, the Confederation of African Football named Milla the best African player of the previous 50 years. He is now an itinerant ambassador for African causes.