Kalombo N'Kongolo (17 July 1961 – 10 March 1993) was a Congolese 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 le ...

who played as a central defender.

Club career

Blessed with a powerful physique, N'Kongolo was born in

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ln, Kinsásá), formerly Léopoldville ( nl, Leopoldstad), is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Once a site of fishing and trading villages situated along the Congo River, Kinshasa is now one o ...

, and spent most of his professional career in Portugal, where he arrived at the age of 26 signing for modest

S.C. Espinho Sporting Clube de Espinho, also known as Sporting de Espinho, is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Espinho in the Aveiro district. Besides football, the club has volleyball and handball departments that usually compete in the major Po ...

in the

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

. His solid performances attracted the attention of

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, MHIH, OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portu ...

. In his sole season at Porto, N'Kongolo appeared in 17 matches – 16 starts – as his team finished second to S.L. Benfica. He returned to Espinho for three further campaigns, with the club now in the Segunda Liga. On 10 March 1993, after spending a few months with

Atlético Clube de Portugal Atlético Clube de Portugal is a Portuguese club, located in the city of Lisbon, more precisely in the parish of Alcântara. It was founded on 18 September 1942 due to the merger of two clubs of Alcântara (Carcavelinhos Football Club) and Santo ...

in the

third division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

, the player died from a brain embolism; he was only 31 years old.

International career

N'Kongolo was part of the Zaire squad at the

1988 African Cup of Nations The 1988 African Cup of Nations was the 16th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the soccer championship of Africa ( CAF). It was hosted by Morocco, who replaced original host Zambia. Just like in 1986, the field of eight teams was split into tw ...

held in Morocco, playing two games in an eventual group-stage exit.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nkongolo, Kalombo 1961 births 1993 deaths Democratic Republic of the Congo men's footballers Footballers from Kinshasa Men's association football central defenders Belgian Pro League players RFC Liège players Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players S.C. Espinho players FC Porto players Atlético Clube de Portugal players Democratic Republic of the Congo men's international footballers 1988 African Cup of Nations players Democratic Republic of the Congo expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Democratic Republic of the Congo expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Democratic Republic of the Congo expatriate sportspeople in Portugal