Pierre Ndaye Mulamba (4 November 1948 – 26 January 2019) was a football midfielder from the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

, formerly Zaire. He was nicknamed "Mutumbula" ("assassin") and "Volvo".

Football career

Mulamba was born in Luluabourg (now

Kananga Kananga, formerly known as Luluabourg or Luluaburg, is the capital city of the Kasai-Central Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and was the capital of the former Kasaï-Occidental Province. It is the fourth most populous urban ar ...

) in 1948. In 1973, he starred for AS Vita Club of Kinshasa, who won the African Cup of Champions Clubs. He was a second-half substitute for the Zaire national team against

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

in the decisive match in qualification for the 1974 World Cup. In 1974 Mulamba played for Zaire in both the African Cup of Nations in Egypt and the World Cup in West Germany. In Egypt he scored nine goals, still a record, as Zaire won the tournament. Mulamba was named Player of the Tournament and was awarded the

National Order of the Leopard The National Order of the Leopard (french: Ordre national du Léopard) was the highest honorific decoration of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1966 until 2002 when it was discontinued and replaced by the Order of the National Heroes Kabi ...

by President Mobutu Sese Seko. In Germany he captained the team, and played in the 2–0 defeat by

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, but was sent off after 22 minutes against

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

. Zaire were already losing 4–0 by then, and finally lost 9–0. Mulamba said later that the team had underperformed, either in protest or from loss of morale, after not receiving a promised $45,000 match bonus.

Later life

In 1994, Mulamba was honoured at the African Cup of Nations in Tunisia. On returning to Zaire, he was shot in the leg by robbers who mistakenly assumed a former sports star would be a wealthy target. He was sheltered by Emmanuel Paye-Paye for eight months' recuperation. During the First Congo War, Mulamba's eldest son was killed and in 1996 he fled to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

as a refugee, alone and destitute. He went to

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

and then

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

, where he was taken in by a family in a

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, C ...

. In 1998, a minute's silence was held at the African Cup of Nations in Burkina Faso after an erroneous report that Mulamba had died in a diamond mining accident in Angola. By then Mulamba was unemployed and drinking heavily. By 2010 Mulamba was working as a coach of local amateur teams and had married a local woman. ''Forgotten Gold'', a documentary filmed in 2008–09, follows him in South Africa and on a visit back to Congo. He also met with

Danny Jordaan Daniel Alexander "Danny" Jordaan (born 3 September 1951) is the president of the South African Football Association ( SAFA). He is a former lecturer, politician and anti-apartheid activist. He led South Africa's successful 2010 FIFA World Cup bid ...

, head of the organising committee for the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

. Mulamba suffered from heart, kidney and knee problems in later life and was a wheelchair user. He lived in poverty and without recognition in the

Khayelitsha Khayelitsha () is a township in Western Cape, South Africa, on the Cape Flats in the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality. The name is Xhosa for ''New Home''. It is reputed to be the largest

township of Cape Town. He died in Johannesburg on 26 January 2019.

Honours

;AS Vita Club * African Cup of Champions Clubs:

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

* Zaire / DR Congo League (6): 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1980, 1988 * Congo Cup (7): 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1981, 1982, 1983 ;Zaire * Africa Cup of Nations: 1974

References

External links

* *
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/nowiki> {{DEFAULTSORT:Mulamba, Ndaye 1948 births 2019 deaths People from Kananga AS Vita Club players Africa Cup of Nations-winning players Association football midfielders Democratic Republic of the Congo footballers Democratic Republic of the Congo international footballers 1974 FIFA World Cup players 1974 African Cup of Nations players 1976 African Cup of Nations players Democratic Republic of the Congo emigrants to South Africa