Rumbani Andrew Munthali (born 2 December 1978) is a Canadian soccer coach and former professional player who played as a defender and

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He is the youth coach for

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...

side

Nashville SC Nashville Soccer Club is a Major League Soccer team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The team began play in the league in 2020 as a continuation of the USL club of the same name and plays its home matches at Geodis Park. It is principally owned ...

Career

Early career

Born in

Lusaka Lusaka (; ) is the capital and largest city of Zambia. It is one of the fastest-developing cities in southern Africa. Lusaka is in the southern part of the central plateau at an elevation of about . , the city's population was about 3.3 milli ...

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are ...

, Munthali was raised in Canada and played college soccer at the

University of Alabama-Birmingham The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is a public research university in Birmingham, Alabama. Developed from an academic extension center established in 1936, the institution became a four-year campus in 1966 and a fully autonomous univ ...

where he was a 2000 Third Team All American.

Professional career

In 2001, the Montreal Impact drafted, but did not sign Munthali. The

Richmond Kickers Richmond Kickers is an American professional soccer club based in Richmond, Virginia. The Kickers compete as a member of USL League One (USL-1). The club was established in 1993, and began play that same year as a United States Interregional S ...

then signed him after suffering several injuries to their back line. In 2002, the Kickers loaned Munthali to the

Carolina Dynamo North Carolina Fusion U-23, formerly known as Carolina Dynamo, is an American soccer team based in Greensboro, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1993, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. T ...

. They released him in February 2003. He then played for the Oakville Winstars. In 2004, he was signed by the

Toronto Lynx Toronto Lynx was a Canadian soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1997, the team last played in the 2014 season of the Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Great Lakes ...

of the

USL A-League The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, p ...

on April 7, 2004. He made his debut for the club on April 17, 2004 in a match against

Puerto Rico Islanders Puerto, a Spanish word meaning ''seaport'', may refer to: Places *El Puerto de Santa María, Andalusia, Spain *Puerto, a seaport town in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines *Puerto Colombia, Colombia *Puerto Cumarebo, Venezuela *Puerto Galera, Orient ...

, coming on as a substitute for

John Barry Nusum John Barry Nusum (born March 18, 1981 in Mineola, New York) is an American-born Bermudian retired football player. Career College Nusum grew up in Devonshire, Bermuda, before returning to the United States to play college soccer at Furman U ...

. At the conclusion of the season the organization awarded him the Public Relations Award. He re-signed with Toronto for the 2005 season on March 31, 2005. In 2006, he moved to China to sign with

Nanchang Bayi Shanghai Shenxin Football Club () was a professional football club that participated in China's football league system between 2003 and 2019 under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team was based in Jinshan District, Shan ...

. On March 2, 2010, he transferred to

China League One The Chinese Football Association China League (), also known as China League One or Chinese Jia League (中甲联赛), is the second level of professional football in China. Above League One is the Chinese Super League. Prior to the formation of ...

side

Shenyang Dongjin Shenyang Dongjin Football Club () was a Chinese football club based in Shenyang, Liaoning and their home stadium is the Shenyang Urban Construction University Stadium that has a seating capacity of 12,000. History Founded as Jinan Fulu Footba ...

After retirement

After retiring, Munthali moved back to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

. In 2016, he was hired as a youth coach at the academy of

Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City, often shortened to Sporting KC, is an American men's professional soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The administrative offices are located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and the team clubhouse an ...

. As of August 2021, Munthali was still holding the same position. In 2023, Munthali left Kansas City and joined fellow MLS side

as a Player Development coach. In May 2024, Munthali was named interim head coach of Nashville after the departure of Gary Smith.

References

1978 births Living people Canadian men's soccer players Canadian expatriate men's soccer players Canada men's international soccer players North Carolina Fusion U23 players Toronto Lynx players Canadian people of Zambian descent Men's association football defenders USL First Division players Men's association football midfielders Footballers from Lusaka Richmond Kickers players Expatriate men's footballers in China Canadian expatriates in China China League One players Shanghai Shenxin F.C. players Shenyang Dongjin F.C. players Zambian emigrants to Canada Sporting Kansas City non-playing staff Canadian soccer coaches Nashville SC non-playing staff Nashville SC coaches {{Canada-footy-bio-stub