Léon Mokuna Mutombo (1 November 1928 – 28 January 2020), nicknamed ''Le Trouet'' or ''Trouet'', was a Belgian- 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 for

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foot ...

Gent Gent is a shortened form of the word gentleman. It may also refer to: * Ghent (Dutch: Gent), a Belgian city ** K.A.A. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** K.R.C. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** Gent RFC, a rugby club in Ghent ** .gent, a ...

and SV Waregem between 1954 and 1966. He was among the first Africans to play professionally in Belgium, and may have been the first Congolese player in a European side. His role has been described as "pioneering" by

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside flag ...

Early life

Léon Mokuna was born in Léopoldville,

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (french: Congo belge, ; nl, Belgisch-Congo) was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964. Colo ...

in 1928 and grew up in Léopoldville (now Kinshasa) where he became a protégé of the football-promoting Scheutist missionary

Raphaël de la Kethulle de Ryhove Raphaël Marie Joseph de la Kethulle de Ryhove (Sint-Michiels, 15 September 1890 - Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, 25 June 1956), nicknamed ''Tata Raphaël'' (Father Raphaël) or ''Sango Raphaël'' (Priest Raphaël), was a Belgium, Belgian CICM Missionaries ...

, known as "Tata Raphaël". Playing football in Léopoldville, Mokuna gained the French nickname ''Le Trouet'' or ''Trouet'' ("little hole", phonetically derived from ''troué!'' or "holed!") for reputedly having scoring a goal with such force that it snapped the net. He retained it throughout his playing career.

Football career

Mokuna was originally talent-spotted by Sporting Lisbon which visited Léopoldville in 1954 during a tour of neighbouring Portuguese Angola. He moved to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

to play for Sporting from January 1955 and finished the season with 19 goals in 11 games. However, he remained with the team for only two seasons after being "ostracised" before returning to the Congo to play for

Victoria Club Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychel ...

(today AS Vita Club) at Léopoldville. In 1957, Mokuna left the Congo for Belgium to play for KAA Gent ("La Gantoise") where he was twice the team's top goalscorer (1959 and 1960) and became "a club icon". At the time, it was widely assumed that Mokuna was the first African to play for a Belgian team and the first Congolese player in a European club. He certainly pre-empted the so-called ''Belgicains'' who arrived from the Congo to play at Belgian clubs after 1959. However, a mixed-race player

Louis Cousin Louis Cousin, le président Cousin (; 21 August 1627 – 26 February 1707) was a French translator, historian, lawyer, royal censor and president of the cour des monnaies. Cousin was born and died in Paris. He was the third member elected t ...

(1912–89) had played for Daring Brussels during the 1930s and is now thought to hold the title. Mokuna played twice for the Belgium national football B team in 1959. He became the first black player to represent the country, though he blamed racial prejudice for not being selected for the main national side during the same period. He left KAA Gent in 1961, later playing for

KSV Waregem Koninklijke Sportvereniging Waregem was a Belgian football club that existed between 1925 and 2001. It played three spells at the highest level in the Belgian football league system each separated by a single season at the second level: from ...

(1961–66) and

KV Kortrijk Koninklijke Voetbalclub Kortrijk (often simply called KV Kortrijk or KVK) is a Belgian professional football club based in Kortrijk, West Flanders. They play in the Belgian First Division, and they achieved their best ranking ever during the 2009 ...

where he immediately suffered a double fracture to his leg that ended his playing career. He gained Belgian nationality in 1959. After Congolese independence in 1960, Mokuna coached the national football team at the

1965 Africa Cup of Nations The 1965 African Cup of Nations was the fifth edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the soccer championship of Africa ( CAF). It was hosted by Tunisia. Just like in 1963, the field of six teams was split into two groups of three. Ghana retained i ...

during the country's first appearance in the tournament. The team lost to

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

and

Cote d'Ivoire Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

and was eliminated. He also managed the Congolese national team from 1968 to 1970.

Later life

Mokuna returned to the Congo (later

Zaire Zaire (, ), officially the Republic of Zaire (french: République du Zaïre, link=no, ), was a Congolese state from 1971 to 1997 in Central Africa that was previously and is now again known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zaire was, ...

) after the end of his Belgian football career and worked in business. However, his property was later confiscated by the regime of

Mobutu Sese Seko Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga (; born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu; 14 October 1930 – 7 September 1997) was a Congolese politician and military officer who was the president of Zaire from 1965 to 1997 (known as the Democratic Republic o ...

. He remained in

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...

until his death at age 91 on 28 January 2020. Mokuna is the grandfather of the Belgian footballer David Mukuna-Trouet, born in 2001.

Early life

Football career

Later life

See also

References

Further reading