Nicodème Kabamba Wa Kabengu (born 29 July 1936) is a
Congolese
Congolese or Kongolese may refer to:
African peoples
* Congolese people (disambiguation)
* Kongo people, a Bantu ethnic group who live along the Atlantic coast of Africa from Pointe-Noire (Republic of Congo) to Luanda, Angola, primarily defined by ...
former
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 as a
midfielder
In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...
. He grew up in
Jadotville
Likasi (formerly official names: Jadotville ( French) and Jadotstad ( Dutch)) is a city in Haut-Katanga Province, in the south-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Demographics
Likasi has a population of around 635,000 (2015). During the 199 ...
, where he received the nickname "Serpent de Rail" after the just-completed rail line between Jadotville and
Kolwezi
Kolwezi or Kolwesi is the capital city of Lualaba Province in the south of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, west of Likasi. It has an airport and a railway to Lubumbashi. Just outside of Kolwezi there is the static inverter plant of the ...
. Kabamba played for
Standard Liège
Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège ( ; ; ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège.
They are one of the most successful clubs in Belgium, having won t ...
in Belgium from 1959 to 1963.
Kabamba represented Congo-Kinshasa at the 1968 African Cup of Nations in
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
, where he scored two goals (both coming in the match versus
Congo-Brazzaville
The Republic of the Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo), is a country located on the western coast of Central ...
) in three group matches. He did not play in the semi-final or final as the national team won the continental title for the first time. At the time of the 1968 tournament, Kabamba was playing for