Basaula Lemba (born 3 March 1965) is a Congolese retired

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. Almost his entire professional career was spent in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

, mainly with Vitória de Guimarães.

Club career

Born in

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ), formerly named Léopoldville from 1881–1966 (), is the Capital city, capital and Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kinshasa is one of the world's fastest-grow ...

Zaire Zaire, officially the Republic of Zaire, was the name of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1971 to 18 May 1997. Located in Central Africa, it was, by area, the third-largest country in Africa after Sudan and Algeria, and the 11th-la ...

, Lemba arrived in Portugal at the age of 21, signing with

Vitória S.C. Vitória Sport Clube, popularly known as Vitória de Guimarães or sometimes just Vitória, is a Portuguese professional football club based in Guimarães that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football, at the Est ...

from

AS Vita Club Association Sportive Vita Club, more commonly known as AS Vita Club, AS V. Club or simply Vita Club, is a Congolese professional football club based in Kinshasa. History AS Vita Club was founded in 1935 by Honoré Essabe under the name of ''Rena ...

but having absolutely no impact in his first season – seven matches. He spent the following three campaigns also in the

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

, representing O Elvas C.A.D. and C.F. Estrela da Amadora. Basaula – called by his first name whilst in Portugal – re-joined Vitória in 1990, becoming an important midfield element at the

Minho Minho or Miño may refer to: People * Miño (surname) * Choi Min-ho, South Korean singer and actor known mononymously as Minho Places * Minho (river) or Miño, in Portugal and Spain Jamaica * Rio Minho, a river Portugal * Minho Province ...

club and sharing teams with countryman N'Dinga Mbote during his spell. In January 1995 he left for another side in the country,

C.F. Os Belenenses Clube de Futebol Os Belenenses (), commonly known as Os Belenenses or simply Belenenses, is a Portuguese sports club best known for its football team. Founded in 1919, it is one of the oldest Portuguese sports clubs. It is based in the 19,856 ...

, switching to F.C. Tirsense shortly after. After one year in the second division with Moreirense F.C. he moved to the lower leagues, representing two teams in the fourth level until his retirement at the age of 35.

International career

Lemba played for

at the

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

and 1994 editions of the

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

, with both tournaments ending in quarter-final exits.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lemba, Basaula 1965 births Living people Footballers from Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo men's footballers Men's association football midfielders AS Vita Club players Linafoot players Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Vitória S.C. players O Elvas C.A.D. players C.F. Estrela da Amadora players C.F. Os Belenenses players F.C. Tirsense players Moreirense F.C. players União Montemor players Democratic Republic of the Congo men's international footballers 1988 African Cup of Nations players 1992 African Cup of Nations players 1994 African Cup of Nations players Democratic Republic of the Congo expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Democratic Republic of the Congo expatriate sportspeople in Portugal 21st-century Democratic Republic of the Congo people