Léon Mokuna
Léon Mokuna Mutombo (1 November 1928 – 28 January 2020),[2] nicknamed Le Trouet or Trouet, was a Belgian-Congolese professional footballer who played for Sporting Lisbon, KAA 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.[3][4]
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Léon Mukuna Mutombo | ||
| Date of birth | 1 November 1928 | ||
| Place of birth |
Belgian Congo (modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo) | ||
| Date of death | 28 January 2020 (aged 91) | ||
| Place of death | Ghent, Belgium | ||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Forward[1] | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1954 | Victoria Club | ||
| 1954–1957 | Sporting Lisbon | 13 | (19) |
| 1957 | Victoria Club | ||
| 1957–1961 | KAA Gent | ||
| 1961–1966 | SV Waregem | ||
| National team | |||
| 1959 | Belgium B | 2 | (1) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1968–1970 | DR Congo | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only | |||
Early life
Léon Mokuna was born in the Belgian Congo 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 with such force that it snapped the net. He retained it throughout his playing career.[3]
Football career
Mokuna was originally talent-spotted by Sporting Lisbon which visited Léopoldville in 1954 during a tour of neighbouring Portuguese Angola. He moved to Portugal 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.[3]
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".[3] 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.[5]
Mokuna played twice for the Belgium national football B 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.[3] He left KAA Gent in 1961, later playing for KSV Waregem (1961–66) and KV Kortrijk where he immediately suffered a double fracture to his leg that ended his playing career.[3] He gained Belgian nationality in 1959.
After Congolese independence in 1960, Mokuna coached the national football team ahead of the 1965 Africa Cup of Nations during the country's first appearance in the tournament. The team lost to Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire and was eliminated.[3]
Later life
Mokuna returned to the Congo (later Zaire) after the end of his Belgian football career and worked in business.[3] He managed the Congolese national team from 1968 to 1970. However, his property was confiscated by the regime of Mobutu Sese Seko and he returned to Belgium in 1989.
He remained in Ghent until his death at age 91 on 28 January 2020.[5] Mokuna is the grandfather of the Belgian footballer David Mukuna-Trouet, born in 2001.[6]
See also
- Paul Bonga Bonga — Congolese footballer who played for Standard Liège from 1957
References
- Léon Mokuna at WorldFootball.net
- Le ballon ronde
- Gleeson, Mark (29 January 2020). "Pioneering DR Congo forward Leon Mokuna dies aged 90". BBC Sport. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
- "Voetbalclubs eren Léon Mokuna". Het Nieuwsblad. GHL/ABG. 5 November 2010. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
- "Léon Mokuna (91), een van eerste zwarte voetballers in België, overleden". Radio 2. 28 January 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
- "Kleinzoon van Gent-legende tekent bij Beerschot". Gazet van Antwerpen.
Further reading
- Cleveland, Todd (2017). Following the Ball: The Migration of African Soccer Players Across the Portuguese Colonial Empire, 1949-1975. Athens, OH: Ohio University Press. ISBN 978-0-89680-314-5.