Joseph Musonda (born 30 May 1977) is a Zambian former professional football who played as a defender. An accomplished and reliable defender, he plays in either full back position for the Zambia national team and centre back for his club. He is Zambia's second most capped player after Kennedy Mweene according to FIFA.

Career

Musonda was born in

Kalulushi Kalulushi is a town in the Copperbelt Province in north central Zambia. It is located on the M18 Road, just west of Kitwe. Municipal (district) population 75,806 at the 2000 census. Kalulushi emerged as a planned company town with the development ...

. Described by FIFA as the 'father figure' of the

Zambian 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 ...

team, Joseph Musonda is fitter than ever and still very much a part of the nation's defence of the Africa Cup of Nations. Having contributed so much to Zambia's historic win in the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations it was cruel that Joseph Musonda's final v Ivory Coast should be cut short by injury after just 11 minutes. Despite this, Musonda was finally able to celebrate what was his 100th match for Zambia when his team went on to win 8–7 on penalties. Musonda injured his ankle making a vital intervention against

Gervinho Gervais Yao Kouassi (born 27 May 1987), known as Gervinho, is an Ivorian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Greek Super League club Aris and the Ivory Coast national team. Gervinho began his career at ASEC Abidjan and Toumod ...

who was bearing down on goal and he left the field in visible distress. Despite his uncompromising defending, Joseph Musonda is considered to be one of the gentlemen of the Zambia national team, so it was no surprise when his opponent that day, Didier Drogba, came to comfort him as he was brought off the field. Manager Herve Renard would later carry him up to receive his winners medal. Musonda made a much quicker recovery from that ankle injury than was expected demonstrating his powers of recovery and he was soon playing again for

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 ...

in South Africa. Indeed, in June 2012 the club tied him to a three-year contract extension that will take Musonda to 38 years of age. At the time, Joseph Musonda turned down the opportunity to play in the United Arab Emirates on a lucrative contract. Joseph Musonda was part of the

2006 African Nations Cup The 2006 Africa Cup of Nations was the 25th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the association football championship of Africa. It was hosted by Egypt. Just like in 2004, the field of sixteen teams was split into four groups of four. Egypt won ...

team. He was also picked in the 2008 squad for the AFCON and Zambia were eliminated in the group stage before being part of the 2010 squad that made it to the Quarter Finals of the competition eventually losing to Nigeria in a penalty shoot-out. In his native Zambia, Musonda was a two times winner of the league championship with Nkana FC in 1999 and 2001.

Post-playing career

On 12 November 2019, it was confirmed, that 42-year old Musonda had retired after more than 20 years of playing professional football and would continue as a physical coach at

Nkana Nkana is a section of the city of Kitwe, Copperbelt Province, Zambia which started off in the early part of the 20th century as a railway station to support the growing complex of copper mining operations. It was named after Chief Nkana, the loc ...

, signing a two-year deal with the club.PSL & Zambia Legend Retires!
soccerladuma.co.za, 12 November 2019

Honours

Zambia * Africa Cup of Nations:

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

References

External links

* *
Joseph Musonda - Century of International Appearances

RSSSF The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) is an international organization dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around th ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Musonda, Joseph 1977 births Living people Zambian footballers Zambia international footballers Zambian expatriate footballers Zambian expatriate sportspeople in South Africa 2006 Africa Cup of Nations players 2008 Africa Cup of Nations players 2010 Africa Cup of Nations players 2012 Africa Cup of Nations players 2013 Africa Cup of Nations players Free State Stars F.C. players Lamontville Golden Arrows F.C. players Polokwane City F.C. players Nkana F.C. players Expatriate soccer players in South Africa Association football defenders FIFA Century Club Zanaco F.C. players ZESCO United F.C. players Africa Cup of Nations-winning players

Career

Post-playing career

Honours

See also

References

External links