Paul Bonga Bonga (born 25 April 1933) is a Congolese

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 ...

of the 1950s and 1960s. 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 ...

, he rose to prominence during his time in Belgium at

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège (; nl, Standard Luik ; german: Standard Lüttich ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most ...

and was perhaps best remembered as the first African footballer to be selected in the

World Soccer Magazine ''World Soccer'' is an English-language football magazine, published by Kelsey Media. The magazine was established in 1960 and is the oldest continually published football magazine in the United Kingdom. It specialises in the international foo ...

world XI, when he was chosen in 1962.

Career

Bonga was born in Ebonda. He started playing football barefoot, in 1948 for the Golden Lion and then for Sporting, St. Anne College team. In 1950, he joined Union and put on his first boots. He was transferred in 1952 to Daring Club Motema Pembe. In 1956, while on a European tour, he was noticed by sports journalists, particularly for his match against the Standard Liège. In late 1957 he was invited to Standard, and became Belgian champion in the seasons of 1958–1960. In 1960, Bonga Bonga finished as runner-up to

Paul Van Himst Paul Van Himst (born 2 October 1943) is a Belgian former football player and a football manager who played as a forward, most notably for R.S.C. Anderlecht. Career Van Himst was nicknamed ''Polle Gazon'' (''Polle'' is Paul in Brussels dialect, ...

in voting for the Soulier d'Or, the

Belgian Golden Shoe In association football, the Belgian Golden Shoe ( nl, Gouden Schoen, french: Soulier d'Or) is an award given in Belgium at the beginning of each civil year to the best footballer of the Belgian First Division A for the past year. The trophy is spon ...

. It was the only occasion in the first twenty years of the award that a non-Belgian player finished in the top three players of the year. In 1962, Bonga Bonga became the first non-naturalised African player to feature in the semi-final of the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

. After playing for more than 10 years in Belgian clubs, Bonga retired in 1970 and became a coach at FC Tubize. After returning home in 1972, Bonga led Daring Club Motema Pembe before assuming the post of President Sportif. In 1991, he was appointed National Technical Director of the Leopards (present-day Simba).

Timeline

*1948 – 1951 : Lion d'or, puis Sporting Club *1952 – 1954 : Union *1954 – 1957 : Daring Club Motema Pembe *1956: Médaille d'or de l'association "Royale Sportive Congolaise" *1957 – 1963 : Standard de Liège (Belgique) *1961: Plaquette + prix de l'effort Sportif de la ville de Liège *1962: **Médaille d'or trophée Pappaert (Journal les sports de Bruxelles) **Médaille de bronze du Ministère de la santé et de la famille de Liège **Soulier d'argent (2ème meilleur joueur Européen) *1963 – 1967 : Sporting de Charleroi *1968 – 1970: Moteur breveté/Ecole des entraïneur à Heysel 1972 – 1973 : Entraîneur DCMP *1976: Médaille d'or / mérite sportif Congolais *1981: Président du DCMP *1984 – 1991: Directeur Technique National et Membre de la Fecofa

References

1933 births Living people People from Mongala Belgian Congo people Men's association football midfielders Democratic Republic of the Congo men's footballers Democratic Republic of the Congo expatriate men's footballers Daring Club Motema Pembe players Standard Liège players R. Charleroi S.C. players Belgian Pro League players Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Democratic Republic of the Congo expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Democratic Republic of the Congo football managers Democratic Republic of the Congo national football team managers {{DRCongo-footy-bio-stub

Career

Timeline

See also

References