Stoppila Sunzu (born 22 June 1989), also known as Stophira Sunzu, is a Zambian professional

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 plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Super League (), commonly known as the Chinese Super League or the CSL (), also known as the China Resources Beverage Chinese Football Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Ch ...

club

Changchun Yatai Changchun Yatai Football Club () is a Chinese professional football club based in Changchun, Jilin, that competes in . Changchun Yatai plays its home matches at the Changchun Stadium, located within Nanguan District. The club's founder and main ...

. He scored the winning

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

for

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

in the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations final.

Early life

Stopilla Sunzu was born in

Chingola Chingola is a town in Zambia's Copperbelt Province, the country's copper-mining region, with a population of 256,560 (2022 census). It is the home of Nchanga Copper Mine, a deep-shaft high-grade content copper mining operation, which subsequen ...

and is the younger brother of Felix Sunzu and the son of Felix Sunzu Sr, a goalkeeper who was originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Club career

Early career

He began his career with Afrisports of Kitwe. He was discovered at a U-16 tournament in Chambeshi, Zambia and he was referred to Afrisports. He then joined

Konkola Blades Konkola Blades is a Zambian professional football club based in Chililabombwe, that competes in the Zambian Premier League. They play their home games at the 20,000-capacity Konkola Stadium in Chililabombwe. Achievements * Zambian Cup: ::1983, 1 ...

under a

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

arrangement. After representing Zambia at the

2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 16th edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup (formerly called the FIFA World Youth Championship), hosted by Canada from 30 June to 22 July 2007. Argentina defeated the Czech Republic in the title game by the scor ...

, the 19-year-old was invited for trials at the English side

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

. The

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

side was keen on securing him on a longer deal but due to work permit problems the move did not materialise. He signed a loan contract for

Châteauroux Châteauroux ( ; ; ) is the capital city of the French department of Indre, central France and the second-largest town in the province of Berry, after Bourges. Its residents are called ''Castelroussins'' () in French. Climate Châteauroux te ...

in September 2008 and after the end of the season on 30 June 2009 returned to

Zanaco FC Zanaco FC is a Zambian football (soccer), football club based in Lusaka that plays in the Zambian Premier League, MTN/FAZ Super Division. They play their home games at Sunset Stadium in Lusaka. Zanaco Football Club was formed in 1972 as a social ...

TP Mazembe

In 2010, Sunzu transferred to TP Mazembe of Democratic Republic of Congo. His registration to Zanaco was a loan from Afrisports and there was some initial dispute regarding his move to TP Mazembe but it was eventually resolved. With Mazembe, he won domestic titles as well as the

2010 CAF Champions League The 2010 CAF Champions League was the 46th edition of Africa's premier club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and the 14th edition under the current CAF Champions League format. The winner, TP Mazembe q ...

. He was sent off in the club's opening

2010 FIFA Club World Cup The 2010 FIFA Club World Cup (officially known as the FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2010 presented by Toyota for sponsorship reasons) was a football tournament that was played from 8 to 18 December 2010. It was the seventh FIFA Club World Cup and was ho ...

game. In November 2012, he was shortlisted for the 2012 Africa-based Player of the Year award. In January 2013, he trained with

in the English

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

with a view to being offered a contract. He returned to the

2013 African Cup of Nations The 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations South Africa 2013 for sponsorship reasons, held from 19 January to 10 February 2013, was the 29th Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa organized ...

without any contract being signed. Sunzu came to Reading on the premise of being a free agent, with his three-year contract expiring in December 2012. Moses Katumbi, president of TP Mazembe, accused Sunzu's handlers of lying to Reading about his contract stating that it does not expire until 2015.

Stints in France and China

On 6 January 2014, Sunzu joined French

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

club Sochaux-Montbéliard along with his teammate

Nathan Sinkala Nathan Sinkala (born 22 November 1990) is a Zambian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for ZESCO United and the Zambia national team. Club career Green Buffaloes Born in Chingola, Sinkala began his career in 2008 with ...

. He scored important goals but could not prevent the relegation of the French side to Ligue 2. On 29 December 2014, Sunzu transferred to

side Shanghai Greenland Shenhua. He made his debut and scored his first goal for Shanghai Greenland Shenhua on 8 March 2015, in a 6–2 victory against city rivals

Shanghai Shenxin 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, Shangha ...

. Sunzu was loaned to

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

for one year on 28 July 2015. In his first season there, he made 16 appearances scoring twice. On 10 July 2016, he joined Lille permanently on a three-year contract, for an undisclosed fee. Stoppila Sunzu

Arsenal Tula loans

On 3 February 2017, Sunzu signed a loan deal with the

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

club

FC Arsenal Tula FC Arsenal Tula () is a Russian professional football club from Tula playing in the second-tier Russian First League. Originally founded in 1923, FC Arsenal Tula was promoted to the Russian Premier League in 2014 for the first time in its hi ...

until the end of the 2016–17 season. At the time of the signing, Arsenal Tula claimed his player rights still belong to Shanghai Greenland Shenhua, and that is the club Arsenal loaned him from, despite earlier reports on him signing a permanent deal with

In July 2017, he re-joined Arsenal Tula on loan for the 2017–18 season.

Metz

On 9 July 2018, he returned to France, signing a two-year contract with

FC Metz Football Club de Metz () is a Football in France, French association football club based in Metz, Lorraine. The club was formed in 1932 and plays in Ligue 1, the highest division in the French football league system, for the 2025–26 Ligue 1, ...

. He made his league debut for the club on 30 July 2018, playing all ninety minutes in a 1–0 away victory over Stade Brestois 29, Stade Brest. He scored his first competitive goal for the club on 19 October 2018 in a 3–0 league victory over Chamois Niortais F.C., Chamois Niortais. His goal, assisted by Marvin Gakpa, was scored in the 80th minute.

Shijiazhuang Ever Bright

In the 2019–20 winter transfer period, Sunzu left Metz to join

side Shijiazhuang Ever Bright F.C., Shijiazhuang Ever Bright.

Jinan Xingzhou

On 21 April 2023, Sunzu joined China League One side Jinan Xingzhou F.C., Jinan Xingzhou.

Return to Cangzhou Mighty Lions

On 29 February 2024, Sunzu rejoined

club Cangzhou Mighty Lions F.C., Cangzhou Mighty Lions (previous name of Shijiazhuang Ever Bright).

Changchun Yatai

On 28 June 2024, Sunzu joined

club

. Two days later, he made his debut for the club in a 5-0 home win against Qingdao Hainiu F.C., Qingdao Hainiu.

International career

Sunzu represented his country at the

in Canada. In that tournament, Zambia defeated an Uruguayan side that featured Luis Suárez and Edinson Cavani. He made his full international debut against Botswana national football team, Botswana in a 2009 African Championship of Nations qualifier. Sunzu scored the winning penalty of the penalty shoot-out in the final of the 2012 African Cup of Nations against Ivory Coast, which Zambia won 8–7. In October 2013, due to a disagreement between their club TP Mazembe and the Zambian Football Association over international call-ups, Sunzu and two other players (

and Rainford Kalaba) were the subject of a Zambian arrest warrant. All three players later had their passports confiscated by Zambian immigration authorities, before being pardoned by the Zambian government.

Career statistics

Club

International goals

:''Scores and results list Zambia's goal tally first.''

Honours

Zanaco *Zambian Premier League: 2009 TP Mazembe *Linafoot, Super Ligue: 2011 *CAF Champions League: 2010 CAF Champions League, 2010 *CAF Super Cup: 2010 CAF Super Cup, 2010,2011 CAF Super Cup, 2011 Zambia *Africa Cup of Nations: 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, 2012 Individual * CAF Team of the Year: CAF Team of the Year#2012, 2012

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sunzu, Stoppila 1989 births Living people People from Chingola Zambian men's footballers 21st-century Zambian sportsmen Zambian expatriate men's footballers Zambia men's international footballers Zambian people of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent Men's association football defenders LB Châteauroux players TP Mazembe players FC Sochaux-Montbéliard players Zanaco F.C. players Shanghai Shenhua F.C. players Lille OSC players FC Arsenal Tula players FC Metz players Cangzhou Mighty Lions F.C. players Jinan Xingzhou F.C. players Changchun Yatai F.C. players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Chinese Super League players China League One players Russian Premier League players Expatriate men's footballers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Zambian expatriate sportspeople in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in China Zambian expatriate sportspeople in France Zambian expatriate sportspeople in China 2010 Africa Cup of Nations players 2012 Africa Cup of Nations players 2013 Africa Cup of Nations players 2015 Africa Cup of Nations players 2023 Africa Cup of Nations players Africa Cup of Nations–winning players Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Zambian expatriate sportspeople in Russia