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 lea ...

who played for

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

, Gent 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 BBC Television, television, BBC Radio, radio and BBC Online, online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadc ...

Early life

Léon Mokuna was born in

Léopoldville Kinshasa (; ; ), formerly named Léopoldville from 1881–1966 (), is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kinshasa is one of the world's fastest-growing megacities, with an estimated population of 17 million ...

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (, ; ) was a Belgian colonial empire, Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960 and became the Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville). The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Repu ...

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, 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 A goal or objective is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan, and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to ...

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 In southwestern Africa, Portuguese Angola was a historical Evolution of the Portuguese Empire, colony of the Portuguese Empire (1575–1951), the overseas province Portuguese West Africa of Estado Novo (Portugal), Estado Novo Portugal (1951–1 ...

. He moved to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

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 (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 (1912–89) had played for Daring Brussels during the 1930s and is now thought to hold the title. Mokuna played twice for the Belgium B national 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 (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 20 ...

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

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

and

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

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, was the name of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1971 to 18 May 1997. Located in Central Africa, it was, by area, the third-largest country in Africa after Sudan and Algeria, and the 11th-la ...

) 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), often shortened to Mobutu Sese Seko or Mobutu and also known by his initials MSS, was a Congolese politician and military officer ...

. He remained in

Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...

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