Johnson Bwalya (born 3 December 1967) is a Zambian former professional footballer who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. He spent most of his career in Switzerland while representing the Zambia national team internationally. With Zambia, he participated at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

Club career

Born in

Mufulira Mufulira, is a town in the Copperbelt Province of Zambia. Mufulira means "Place of Abundance and Peace". The town developed around the Mufulira Copper Mine in the 1930s. The town also serves as the administrative capital of Mufulira District. ...

, Bwalya attended Kantanshi Secondary school and began his career at hometown club Butondo Western Tigers. In 1986, he joined

Mufulira Wanderers Mufulira Wanderers are Zambia's most successful football club, based in the Copperbelt town of Mufulira and currently playing in the Zambia National Division One after their 2019/2020 season relegation. Popularly known as Mighty Mufulira Wan ...

, winning Footballer of the Year in his first season at the club. At the end of the season, he signed for Swiss club FC Fribourg. He later played for FC Sion, FC Bulle, SC Kriens, FC Luzern, and SR Delémont.

International career

Bwalya made his debut for the Zambia national team in April 1987 in an All Africa Games qualifier against Malawi in

Lusaka Lusaka (; ) is the Capital city, 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 ab ...

and was part of the Zambia team that qualified to the

in Seoul. He scored a goal in Zambia's 4–0 win against Italy on their way to becoming the first African team to reach the quarter-finals of the tournament.Johnson Bwalya
Sports-Reference.com After slipping past a defender, Bwalya hit a shot from nearly 35 yards that swerved and dipped just under the crossbar. In the game against West Germany which Zambia lost 4–0, he was injured. He did not feature for Zambia for the next four years. Upon his recovery, Bwalya regained his form and won back his place in the national team and was to join up with the team for the Senegal game only to learn that the plane carrying the team had plunged into the sea in the Gabon disaster. When a new team was assembled it was Bwalya and Kalusha Bwalya that led the team, both of them scoring in a match against Morocco with Bwalya getting the winning goal with a 25-metre shot in 2–1 win. Bwalya was part of the team that reached the final of the

1994 African Cup of Nations The 1994 African Cup of Nations was the 19th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the association football championship of Africa ( CAF). It was hosted by Tunisia, who replaced original hosts Zaire. Just as in 1992, the field of twelve teams was ...

in Tunisia and was a stand-in captain in Kalusha's absence as the team also qualified to the

1996 African Cup of Nations The 1996 African Cup of Nations was the 20th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa ( CAF). It was hosted by South Africa, who replaced original hosts Kenya. The field expanded for the first time to 16 teams, s ...

in South Africa where they lost to Tunisia in the semi-finals. At the 1996 African Cup of Nations, Bwalya was part of a Zambian team that won the bronze medal, scoring 15 goals in the process and defeating Egypt 3–1 in a come from behind quarter-final victory. In 1997, Zambia drew a World Cup qualifier with South Africa 0–0 at Independence Stadium in Lusaka amid reports of a falling out between Bwalya and Kalusha Bwalya, with Bwalya unhappy with the latter's influence on team selection. Later that year, Bwalya as captain led Zambia and lifted the inaugural COSAFA Castle Cup. When new coach German Burkhard Ziese took over the reins of the national team in late 1997, he accused Bwalya of having the wrong attitude by not attending a team meeting and dropped him from the team travelling to

1998 African Cup of Nations The 1998 African Cup of Nations in Burkina Faso was the 21st edition of the Africa Cup of Nations (ACN), the national football championship of Africa, administered by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). Just like in 1996, the field of ...

where Zambia was knocked out in the group stages.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bwalya, Johnson 1967 births Living people People from Mufulira Zambian footballers Association football forwards Zambia international footballers Olympic footballers of Zambia Footballers at the 1988 Summer Olympics 1994 African Cup of Nations players 1996 African Cup of Nations players Swiss Super League players Swiss Challenge League players FC Fribourg players FC Sion players FC Bulle players SC Kriens players FC Luzern players SR Delémont players Zambian expatriate footballers Zambian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate footballers in Switzerland