Africa Honors Its Soccer Past and Looks Forward
June 10, 2010 . The New York Times
Midrand, South Africa
The master of ceremonies at a dinner here this week announced that after 34 years, a great African soccer mystery would be solved. After years of much silence, Mwepu Ilunga, the former defender from Zaire, would speak. A buzz shot through the room of 500 people. Ilunga had not said much about his bizarre play against Brazil in the 1974 World Cup.
The guests spent the evening honoring African soccer legends. The night was a rich celebration of the continent’s soccer history — so much of it lost, forgotten and obscured — tied together by one event, the World Cup.
The evening was organized by Samson Adamu, a Nigerian businessman whose father, Amos Adamu, is an executive member of FIFA, the world governing body of soccer.
Adamu said his concept for the evening was to go beyond honoring great players and to also honor great players who stayed home. “Not just the ones who played in Europe,” he said. “Some of the guys here tonight made the sacrifice. They made a conscious decision not to go to Europe and to play for Africa. That was really, really important for us.
“The World Cup is here in Africa. I felt that if it was not done now to honor them, it was never going to be done.”
Adamu said he had no immediate plans to hold another similar event. This was the moment for this event. “This is something that had to be done now,” he said “These guys are here. They’re getting older. Some of them are 82. They’re not going to see the next World Cup, so why not do it now?”
The evening was an eye-opening snapshot of the depth and passion that make soccer in Africa a religion, a way of life. Through the program guests were reminded of the great African rivalries: Algeria versus Egypt, Nigeria versus Ghana, Senegal versus Gambia.
Guests were also reminded of some great names.
Lucas Radebe, sometimes called the Chief, described as South Africa’s greatest export to Europe with a long career in England with Leeds United.
Stanley Tshabalala, a post-apartheid South Africa coach and an outstanding defender whose opportunity for national recognition was restricted because of South Africa’s exclusion from international sport.
Jomo Sono, the Black Prince, one of South Africa’s most gifted players, who, like Tshabalala, was obscured because of international sanctions directed at South Africa’s apartheid regime.
There were legends recognized from Sudan, Uganda, Zambia, Guinea, Kenya, Malawi and Nigeria.
“Some people somewhere realized that now, because we were hosting this major event in our own backyard, we recognize those who walked the long road,” said Kirsten Nematandani, president of the South African Football Association. “It’s time Africa wakes up and says: ‘These people honored us, let’s look after them. We have to insure that our legends are well cared for and insure that, indeed, streets are named after them, because they are getting lost.”
The M.C., Steve Vikkers, announced that the grand evening would end with the resolution of a great mystery, one that unfolded in the 1974 World Cup in West Germany when Brazil played Zaire.
The guests watched a video, which was as bizarre in 2010 as it must have been in 1974. Brazil was preparing for a free kick when Ilunga ran out of the wall and cleared the ball before Brazil could put it in play. He seemed perplexed when he received a yellow card.
Zaire’s 3-0 loss concluded a dismal World Cup performance: it played three matches and lost three, allowing 14 goals and scoring none. The performance humiliated Ilunga, Zaire and all of Africa, and put a cloud over African soccer for the next three decades.
Alas, no Ilunga. His name was announced, he received warm applause, but he was nowhere to be found.
Just as well. Nothing he said after all of these years would have changed that moment in 1974. In any event, whatever stain there was has long been cleansed, washed away by many of the soccer players who sat in the great hall on Tuesday.
Cameroon reached the World Cup quarterfinals in 1990, defeating Argentina, Romania and Colombia before losing to England, 3-2. The quality of African soccer is reflected in the hundreds of African players competing in the most prestigious leagues throughout the world. And now South Africa is hosting the continent’s first World Cup, 36 years after Zaire’s and Ilunga’s embarrassment.
Time has reduced the humiliation to a minuscule stretch of rough water in an incredible voyage across time. A new dynamic is unfolding, and the evening for African soccer legends was a perfect metaphor: honoring the past, living in the present, and hurtling toward a hopeful future.
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