Collins Mbesuma (born 3 February 1984) 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 ...

who plays for South African club Pretoria Callies. He is nicknamed ''The Hurricane'' or ''Ntofontofo''.

Club career

Mbesuma was born in

Luanshya Luanshya is a town in Zambia, in the Copperbelt Province near Ndola. It has a population of 117,579 (2008 census). Luanshya was founded in the early part of the 20th century after two prospector/explorer, William Collier shot and killed a Roan A ...

. His father,

Francis Kajiya Francis Kajiya (1954 – 28 August 2013) was a Zambian association football, footballer who played as a Midfielder#Winger, right winger. Career Kajiya played club football for Green Buffaloes F.C., Green Buffaloes and Ndola United, as well as the ...

, was also a football player who played as a

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 ...

for Zambian clubs;

Green Buffaloes FC Green Buffaloes Football Club is a Zambia Army-sponsored football team which was founded in 1965 as Zambian Army and later changed to Green Buffaloes FC. Green Buffaloes is one of the most successful club in the history of Zambian football and dom ...

and Ndola United FC as well as the country's national team from the late 1970s to the early 1980s. The surname "Mbesuma" is adopted from his step father who raised him as he was not brought up by his biological father Kajiya. Mbesuma made his debut for Zambia in 2003 and had won four caps by the end of that year, while at the same time being a key member of Zambia's under-23 side that almost qualified for the Athens Olympics. His performances for the Olympic team caught the attention of Kaizer Chiefs who bought him in January from Roan United in Zambia, where he averaged a goal every other game. He scored on his debut in South Africa's

Premier Soccer League Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

in 2004 against the

Black Leopards Black Leopards FC is a South African football club based in Thohoyandou, Vhembe Region, Limpopo that plays in the National First Division. History The club was founded in 1983 by business people in the Vhembe Region. In 1998 the club was tak ...

but injured himself in the process and spent several weeks on the sidelines. Mbesuma was named

PSL Player of the Season The PSL Player of the Season in South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic O ...

in 2005 after scoring a sensational 35 goals in one season with Kaizer Chiefs. After such an achievement a move to a more prestigious league looked assured, and indeed it was enough to catch the eye of

Sam Allardyce Samuel Allardyce (; born 19 October 1954), colloquially referred to as Big Sam, is an English football manager and former professional player. Allardyce made 578 league and cup appearances in a 21-year career spent mostly in the Football Lea ...

, manager of Bolton Wanderers (

Le Mans UC72 Le Mans Football Club (; commonly referred to as Le Mans FC, formerly referred as Le Muc) is a French association football club based in Le Mans. The club was founded in 1985 as a result of a merger under the name Le Mans Union Club 72. In 201 ...

looked to sign him but administrative problems didn't allow Mbesuma to join France). However, Mbesuma was reluctant to take a trial at the club, feeling his quality was already proven, and so this allowed then-Portsmouth manager

Alain Perrin Alain André Christian Perrin (born 7 October 1956) is a French professional football manager and former player. Perrin made his managerial breakthrough at Troyes, whom he took from the fourth tier to Ligue 1 and UEFA Cup qualification by winni ...

to snap him up on a three-year contract in the summer of 2005. Work permit problems due to the low

ranking A ranking is a relationship between a set of items such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", "ranked lower than" or "ranked equal to" the second. In mathematics, this is known as a weak order or total preorder of ...

of his country meant he was not given clearance to join the club until late into pre-season. It was noted that he appeared overweight early in the season when playing for the reserve team. Mbesuma never started a match for Portsmouth; he only came on for a total of four brief substitute appearances, all in the first half of the 2005–06 season. In July 2006, he began a season long loan with

CS Marítimo CS, C-S, C.S., Cs, cs, or cs. may refer to: Job titles * Chief Secretary (Hong Kong) * Chief superintendent, a rank in the British and several other police forces * Company secretary, a senior position in a private sector company or public s ...

where he appeared to be regaining his form – netting in vital goals early in the season and receiving the

Swan d'Or Swans are birds of the family Anatidae within the genus ''Cygnus''. The swans' closest relatives include the geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometim ...

, an auspicious monthly Portuguese football award. However his form soon dipped and his goal tally climaxed at a total of just seven goals. He returned to Portsmouth in June 2007 after playing 23 games for the Portuguese team. His transfer from Kaizer Chiefs to

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

in August 2005 is one of those about which the Stevens inquiry report in June 2007 expressed concerns, because of the involvement of agent

Willie McKay Willie McKay is a British football agent, based in Monaco. He was the agent of many top-level footballers, mainly based in England and France, specifically the Premier League His clients include James McFadden, Joey Barton Joseph Anthon ...

. On 4 August 2007, it was announced that

Bursaspor Bursaspor Kulübü Derneği (), commonly known as Bursaspor, is a Turkish sports club located in the city of Bursa. Formed in 1963, the club colours are green and white, with home kits usually featuring both colours in a striped pattern. In t ...

signed Mbesuma for an undisclosed amount. On 17 September 2007, Mbesuma was fined 5000 Euros by Bursaspor for failing to return on time to his Turkish base after helping Zambia to beat

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

in an African Cup of Nations qualifier. This kind of behaviour by Mbesuma was condemned and described as irresponsible by the Zambian FA ( FAZ). Mbesuma has a long-standing reputation of poor timekeeping. This problem dates back to his time at Zambian outfit Roan United. In January 2008, Mbesuma was left off the Zambian national squad at the 2008 African Cup of Nations after being declared unfit. On 23 May 2008, Mbesuma mutually terminated his contract with Bursaspor and signed with

Mamelodi Sundowns Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club (simply known as Sundowns) is a South African professional football club based in Mamelodi, Pretoria in the Gauteng province that plays in the Premier Soccer League, the first tier of South African football ...

. After an unimpressive stints at

and then

Moroka Swallows FC Moroka Swallows Football Club (often known as simply Swallows or The Birds) is a South African professional association football, football club based in Soweto in the city of Johannesburg in the Gauteng province. Founded in 1947, Swallows are on ...

his contract was terminated at the end of the June 2010. After being clubless for several months he joined

Golden Arrows Lamontville Golden Arrows F.C. are a South African soccer club based in Durban that plays in the Premier Soccer League. History It was founded in 1943 in the streets of Lamontville, a township in Durban. The club played in the defunct Natio ...

on 20 December 2010 for a six-month deal. He scored his first goals (a brace) against

Amazulu Zulu people (; zu, amaZulu) are a Nguni ethnic group native to Southern Africa. The Zulu people are the largest ethnic group and nation in South Africa, with an estimated 10–12 million people, living mainly in the province of KwaZulu-Nata ...

on 16 January 2011. On 16 August 2012, Mbesuma joined

Orlando Pirates Orlando Pirates Football Club (often known as "The Buccaneers") is a South African professional football club based in the Houghton suburb of the city of Johannesburg and plays in the top-tier system of Football in South Africa known as DStv ...

on a three-year contract, but in July 2014 moved to

Mpumalanga Black Aces Black Aces were a South African football club that played in the Premier Soccer League. Aces usually played their home games in the Mpumalanga province but were based and trained in Johannesburg. History The original club was founded in 1937 by ...

. In September 2016, he became only the fifth player in the PSL-era to score 100 league goals.

Career statistics

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

Honours

Kaizer Chiefs *

: 2004–05 * Coca-Cola Cup: 2004–05 * Macufe Cup: 2005 CS Marítimo * AF Madeira Cup: 2006–07 Mamelodi Sundowns *

Nedbank Cup The Nedbank Cup is the current name of South Africa's premier club soccer knockout tournament. While many formats have been used over the years, the tournament has always been based on the idea of giving lower league and amateur teams a chance t ...

: 2007–08 Moroka Swallows *

: 2008–09 Zambia * Africa Cup of Nations: 2012 Individual *

: 2005 *

Lesley Manyathela Golden Boot The Lesley Manyathela Golden Boot is an annual association football award presented by the Premier Soccer League to the leading goalscorer in the South African Premier Division. The award, colloquially known as the PSL Golden Boot or simply the Go ...

: 2005, 2016

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mbesuma, Collins 1984 births Living people People from Luanshya Zambian footballers Zambian expatriate footballers Zambia international footballers 2006 Africa Cup of Nations players 2010 Africa Cup of Nations players 2012 Africa Cup of Nations players 2013 Africa Cup of Nations players Premier League players Primeira Liga players Süper Lig players South African Premier Division players National First Division players Portsmouth F.C. players C.S. Marítimo players Bursaspor footballers Kaizer Chiefs F.C. players Association football forwards Mamelodi Sundowns F.C. players Orlando Pirates F.C. players Moroka Swallows F.C. players Lamontville Golden Arrows F.C. players Mpumalanga Black Aces F.C. players Highlands Park F.C. players University of Pretoria F.C. players Pretoria Callies F.C. players Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Portugal Expatriate footballers in Turkey Expatriate soccer players in South Africa Zambian expatriate sportspeople in England Zambian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Zambian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Zambian expatriate sportspeople in South Africa Africa Cup of Nations-winning players