Pierre Ndaye Mulamba (4 November 1948 – 26 January 2019) was a

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 ...

from the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

, formerly Zaire, who played as a forward. He was nicknamed "Mutumbula" ("assassin") and "Volvo".

Football career

Mulamba was born in Luluabourg (now

Kananga Kananga, formerly known as Luluabourg or Luluaburg, is the capital Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, city of the Kasai-Central, Kasai-Central Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and was the capital of the former Kasaï ...

) in 1948. In 1973, he starred for AS Vita Club of

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 ...

, who won the African Cup of Champions Clubs. He was a second-half substitute for the Zaire national team against

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

in the decisive match in qualification for the 1974 World Cup. In 1974 Mulamba played for Zaire in both the

African 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 ...

in Egypt and the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

in West Germany. In Egypt he scored nine goals, still a record, as Zaire won the tournament. Mulamba was named Player of the Tournament and was awarded the National Order of the Leopard by President

Mobutu Sese Seko Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu wa za Banga ( ; born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu; 14 October 1930 – 7 September 1997), often shortened to Mobutu Sese Seko or Mobutu and also known by his initials MSS, was a Congolese politician and military officer ...

. In Germany, he captained the team, and played in the 2–0 defeat by

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, but was sent off after 22 minutes against

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

. Zaire were already losing 4–0 by then, and finally lost 9–0. Mulamba said later that the team had underperformed, either in protest or from loss of morale, after not receiving a promised $45,000 match bonus.

Later life

In 1994, Mulamba was honoured at the

1994 African Cup of Nations The 1994 African Cup of Nations, known as the Nescafé 1994 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship purposes, was the 19th edition of the African Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's football championship of Africa organised by the Con ...

in Tunisia. On returning to Zaire, he was shot in the leg by robbers who mistakenly assumed a former sports star would be a wealthy target. He was sheltered by Emmanuel Paye-Paye for eight months' recuperation. During the

First Congo War The First Congo War, also known as Africa's First World War, was a Civil war, civil and international military conflict that lasted from 24 October 1996 to 16 May 1997, primarily taking place in Zaire (which was renamed the Democratic Republi ...

, Mulamba's eldest son was killed and in 1996 he fled to South Africa as a

refugee A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...

, alone and destitute. He went to

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

and then

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

, where he was taken in by a family in a

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

. In 1998, a minute's silence was held at the African Cup of Nations in Burkina Faso after an erroneous report that Mulamba had died in a diamond mining accident in Angola. By then Mulamba was unemployed and drinking heavily. By 2010 Mulamba was working as a coach of local amateur teams and had married a local woman. ''Forgotten Gold'', a documentary filmed in 2008–09, follows him in South Africa and on a visit back to Congo. He also met with Danny Jordaan, head of the organising committee for the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

. Mulamba suffered from heart, kidney and knee problems in later life and was a wheelchair user. He lived in poverty and without recognition in the

Khayelitsha Khayelitsha () is a township (South Africa), township in Western Cape, South Africa, on the Cape Flats in the City of Cape Town, City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality. The name is Xhosa language, Xhosa for ''New Home''. It is reputed to ...

township of Cape Town. He died in Johannesburg on 26 January 2019.

Honours

;AS Vita Club * African Cup of Champions Clubs:

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

* Zaire / DR Congo League (6): 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1980, 1988 * Congo Cup (7): 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1981, 1982, 1983 ;Zaire *

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 ...

: 1974

References

External links

* *
Biography [translated from french
/nowiki>">ranslated from french">Biography [translated from french
/nowiki> {{DEFAULTSORT:Mulamba, Ndaye 1948 births 2019 deaths People from Kananga AS Vita Club players Africa Cup of Nations–winning players Men's association football midfielders Democratic Republic of the Congo men's footballers Democratic Republic of the Congo men's international footballers 1974 FIFA World Cup players 1974 African Cup of Nations players 1976 African Cup of Nations players Democratic Republic of the Congo emigrants to South Africa CAF Champions League–winning players