Paul Moukila (6 June 1950 – May 1992), nicknamed Sayal, was a

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 ...

who played as an

attacking 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 ...

. A Congolese international, he was winner of the 1974

African Footballer of the Year African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...

award.

Career

Born in Souanké, Moukila began playing football for local side

CARA Brazzaville Club Athlétique Renaissance Aiglon Brazzaville, known simply as CARA Brazzaville, is a Congolese football club based in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo, playing games out of the Stade Alphonse Massemba-Débat. The club won the 1974 African Cu ...

. He played for the club from 1971 to 1975 and then from 1976 to 1978, after returning from a short spell abroad, at French club Strasbourg (1975–1976). With the Congo national team, Moukila won the African Cup of Nations in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...

. He was later voted

in 1974. In 2006, he was selected by CAF as one of the best 200 African football players of the last 50 years. Moukila was voted the

IFFHS The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...

Player of the Century for the Republic of the Congo in 2000.

Personal life

Moukila died in

Meaux Meaux () is a Communes of France, commune on the river Marne (river), Marne in the Seine-et-Marne Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in the Functional area (France), metropolitan area of Paris, Franc ...

, France, from a bout of

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

on 23 May 1992. His son Noël is also a former professional footballer and made two appearances for the Congo national team in 2007.

References

External links

* *
Profile at Racingstub.comArticle at rfi
1950 births 1992 deaths People from Sangha Department (Republic of the Congo) Men's association football midfielders Africa Cup of Nations-winning players Republic of the Congo footballers Republic of the Congo expatriate footballers Republic of the Congo men's international footballers 1972 African Cup of Nations players 1974 African Cup of Nations players 1978 African Cup of Nations players CARA Brazzaville players RC Strasbourg Alsace players Ligue 1 players Expatriate footballers in France Republic of the Congo expatriate sportspeople in France African Footballer of the Year winners USM Malakoff (football) players RCP Fontainebleau players {{RCongo-footy-bio-stub