I remember the first thing I bought when I received my first professional pay check in Belgium: it was a shiny black Golf GTI—a big deal in those days! In those times, I spent every cent I earned, every month. The last of my worries was tomorrow. In fact, during the three and a half years I spent in Belgium, I did not save a cent and I did not study anything. I thought the school of life and football was enough.
As players we are used to instant results. We play a game: we win, draw or lose. The results are there for all to see after the game. Salaries are high, we live for the moment, the future is for, well, tomorrow, or even next week. The problem is that football careers do not last long. Our window of earning opportunity is short.
I knew that after my career as a footballer, I still wanted to be involved in the game. I made sure I took coaching to the highest possible level by achieving a UEFA ‘A’ license to enable me to understand the technical side of football. Because of my qualifications I went home, to Zambia, to be technical director of the Chipolopolo in September 2003, then won elections, as vice president, in March 2004. I then became president of the Football Association of Zambia; a FIFA coaching instructor; a member of FIFA committees and FIFA task teams and grew to understand the administration side of football.
My climb to football administration was gradual. But all the while, my business ventures continued. If you want to go far in football administration, you best have other business interests, since administration is not a money-making profession. One does this for the love of the game.
Very few players continue to make a living from football after the final whistle has blown, unless they become a highly successful professional coach. But even coaching requires study and qualification. A former player does not automatically make a good coach. Those days are gone. With today’s game, you need to be qualified to understand the technical elements of the game.
It becomes important to think about one’s future on your first day of professional football. In Belgium, retirement annuities are compulsory, the club paid the full amount as part of my salary. In the Dutch Eredivisie, retirement funds, which are tax deductible, are compulsory and as such after 20 years, I am still enjoying regular payments from my playing days in Holland.
We can only hope that the clubs in Africa can follow the European model. There should be mandatory pension schemes for footballers in Africa. Clubs should seriously look into this for both the well-being of their players as well as their own good reputation.
Today, players have football agents who should be guiding them better.
So many former players are faced with difficult times, you read and hear about them all the time. It makes me very sad and it is a question of lack of knowledge, which, as we all know, is power. Maybe it is also upbringing, education and the lack of thinking about the future.
When I was growing up, you thought that you would play forever, the limitations were non-existent. Retirement is not even in your mind. You live a day at a time and you want to have the best gadgets, the best car, the best clothes—and those become your key priorities.
You have too much time on your hands, you’re too young and you’re earning way too much money. Temptations are all around you and you become greedy for the now and it is difficult to see an end in sight. The last thing on your mind is that one day your career will end.
Medical insurance should be on the top of the list—it’s not easy to determine when you are going to stop playing because you can sustain a career-ending injury and without medical insurance your earning days are over.
On our continent for example, in early 1980s, it was common to see a very good talent sustain a small injury like a meniscus problem, a ligament injury or an ankle injury and end their career after a year. Instead of getting the appropriate medical attention, which was hard to come by, you would find that their career would be short lived because the problem would persist for longer than it should have and they ended up not being the player that they should’ve been.
In my school team in the 1970s,when I was just trying to break in, the important players would not come to class during the day, but attend school in the afternoon just so they could play the match. Unfortunately, today’s society tends to encourage the talent you have on the field rather than couple it with academic skills and qualifications. If you look at the American model with scholarships for top athletes, this is hugely successful. Education is encouraged and, even in Zambia, you hear most of the professional parents discourage their kids from too much sport, saying that they want them to concentrate more on education.
This can be a double-edged sword, as this often deprives a talented player of much needed practice time. The key is a balance of the two. It is imperative for young players to ensure they attain their education goals whilst living their sporting dreams.
My advice to current professional players is two-fold; career planning and studying in your spare time.
In Belgium, I spent three-and-a-half- years not knowing Flemish, and not doing anything about it, because I could get by as everyone tried to speak to me in English, so I just got by. Yet the first day I arrived in PSV Einhoven in Holland, they assigned a teacher to me, so I could study Dutch twice a week. Within six months I was fluent. The day I arrived in Mexico as a player for one of the biggest team in Mexico, Club America, I made it a priority to find a tutor to teach me Spanish. By the end of the first year I was fluent in Spanish. These talents are of immense value to me today. Besides my mother tongue, Bemba, I also studied French at high school for four years and can converse in the language comfortably. I used to be the official translator when the team travelled to West Africa during my national team playing days. My Italian improves every day thanks to my wife and mother-in-law, so all in all I can say I am a polyglot—a talent, which comes in very handy in the international football environment.
I did a technical directorship badge in Mexico from 1996 to 1998, which effectively made me a qualified technical director. By the time I ended my professional career, I walked away from football with two professional qualifications and four extra languages.
My advice to young career footballers is to be wise and not to get caught up in self-importance of the now, but rather to picture yourself where you want to be in the future. Don’t just train your body, train the brain at the same time. Unfortunately, you cannot be a player forever and when the final whistle blows you better have a new game plan.

Control Your Life  And The Ball

Throughout my career, Nelson Mandela, was a long-distance motivator for me. Whilst enduring the challenges that come with living in Europe, with a darker complexion, my mind constantly reminded me that there was a man in South Africa that had endured and was still enduring much greater challenges. The great man inspired me to hold my head up high and forge ahead. He makes me proud to be an African.
In Zambia during my youth, the African National Congress (ANC) was always talked about in a very hush-hush manner. I don’t think as children, our parents wanted us to know much about all the brave men and women exiled in our country. When it came to Nelson Mandela, great tales were told: how this man that was put in jail for his fight against the brutality of apartheid; for the right to be treated as a human being; for the right to be free. We didn’t have a picture of him, we hardly knew what he looked like, but we all knew of his courage and determination. He was our hero.
In Belgium and Holland in the late 1980s and early 90s there was much debate about apartheid in South Africa. Holland, in particular, was a melting pot of activists. It was in 1987 when my Dutch colleague, Ruud Gullit won ‘World Footballer of the year’ and dedicated his award to Nelson Mandela that I realized, my hero was a world hero and that there were other people in the world that truly cared for justice and democracy.
I was 28 when he was released in February 1990 after 27 years and I realized that he had been in jail for almost as long as I’d been alive! What a tragedy, I thought with anger. Yet when he came out of jail, he spoke of peace and harmony, without any bitterness or animosity towards his captors. He rose above the hardship and suffering and triumphed as a human being. He is an example to humankind that good overcomes evil—a victory we Africans were proud of; a victory that was an example to the world.
My career later took me to Mexico, where racism was a foreign concept to the friendly Central American country. I got a call from South Africa inviting me to play in the ‘Nelson Mandela Farewell game’—African XI vs. World All Stars XI—in honor of the great man who was about to step down as president. That weekend, I travelled for two days for thousands of kilometers by bus to an away game in Mexico. I arrived back in Mexico City at 8am, only to jump on a plane to South Africa. My trip took me from Mexico City to Paris and on to Johannesburg. I arrived in South Africa on the morning of the game. There was so much excitement, that fatigue was forgotten.
That day we were invited to have lunch at the Sandton Sun and Nelson Mandela arrived to meet us. Each and every one of us was dumbstruck by his presence. I remember one thing in particular: we had lunch, and I was with Jorge Campos and Claudio Suárez from Mexico. They were playing for the world team. When we went to greet the man himself, we asked one of the waiters to take our picture, which he did. On returning to Mexico we found that the picture he had taken was blurred. The waiter must have been shivering because the great Nelson Mandela was in the frame that it was completely out of focus.
This farewell match for the president of South Africa took place on August 17, 1999.  Coaching the World XI team was England coach, Roy Hodgson, and his team included:   Dunga; Christian Karembeu; Thomas Hassler and Hidetoshi Nakata to mention a few. Our African XI, coached by Jomo Sono, consisted of: Lucas Radebe; Doctor Khumalo; Mark Fish; and Phil Masinga. A great line-up for a great leader before 40,000 people at the Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg. I scored two goals in that match with the second goal in the 89th minute of the game. The final score was 2-2.
During the line-up I clearly remember feeling intense emotions on shaking his hand. I could ‘feel’ his greatness. I was humbled to be in his presence. For me, this was not just a football match, but a significant moment in my life, for me this great man epitomized what football should stand for: determination, courage, sacrifice, loyalty, forgiveness, goodwill and fairplay.
<div id="attachment_942" style="width: 484px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-942" class="size-large wp-image-942" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/TL_586712-1024x668.jpg" alt="" width="474" height="309" />Kalusha Bwalya celebrates scoring the first goal. Mandela Farewell , 17 August 1999 , Ellis Park. Mandela XI 2 v FIFA World Stars 2 Photo Credit:©Duif du Toit/Gallo Images</div>
<div id="attachment_943" style="width: 484px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-943" class="size-large wp-image-943" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/AV_00020236-687x1024.jpg" alt="" width="474" height="707" />JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA &#8211; AUGUST 17: Neslon Mandela before the start of the Mandela XI 2 versus FIFA World Stars 2 match at Ellis Park on August 17, 1999 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Gallo Images / Sunday Times / Karel Prinsloo)</div>
I met him again, in Zurich in 2003, when we all waited anxiously for the announcement of the host of the 2010 World Cup, to which I was an ambassador. We shook hands and he commented that he knew me well and was my fan. I was bowled over by his humility and kindness. He was my fan? I was privileged to be one of the 16 people that were called in to make representation to FIFA on why this prestigious event should be hosted in South Africa. I felt very proud to be in the same room as Mandela, I believe that his presence was what ultimately swung the decision in our favor when South Africa was chosen as the host country.
I have read many books about Madiba but one of my favourite quotes is “There is no passion to be found playing small—in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.” There is such motivation in those words, they are so wise and so very true.
I was honored to once again be able to take part—after nearly a decade—in another match to honor this extraordinary man. It showcased some of the best players in the world from the past and present including the likes of Abedi Pele, Doctor Khumalo, George Weah, Samuel Eto’o, Daniel Amokachi, Ruud Gullit Christian Karembeuand Lucas Radebe to mention a few. We played in Cape Town on July 18, 2007 in a gala prelude to celebrate the great man’s 89th birthday. The game united the global football family in a ‘90 Minutes for Mandela’ tribute. It commemorated the man who was instrumental in the decision to bring the FIFA World Cup to Africa for the first time in 2010.
In my leadership roles, as coach and administrator, I try to live by another one of Nelson Mandela’s quotes: “It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership.” It is words like these, his wisdom and his largeness of spirit that make him an everlasting icon. He dedicated his lifetime to the promotion of human rights and democracy.
This great man has been my motivator throughout my career, albeit from a distance, he was with me all the way. His values in life are exemplary and deserve to be emulated. He remains, my hero and a bastion of hope for Africa and for the entire world.

How Nelson Mandela  Won The World Cup

Most of the technique that put me in good stead, in my professional career, I learnt on the street as a youngster. It was there that I honed my skills, because there was always tough competition. On the street, you learn human values and enjoyment of the game. I remember the laughter and the fun and the fierce competition in ball-juggling skills, passing, shooting and all the other fancy footwork.
My first memories watching football came as soon as I could walk. I used to accompany my father to meetings and football matches. My father was an executive committee member of Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) and Chairman of Mufulira Blackpool. He used to take my brother and me to matches almost every weekend.
We played barefoot on the gravel roads of Kamuchanga Township in Mufulira, on the copperbelt, every day. The ball was made of brown rubber and we were either at school or playing football. There were few cars in those days, so we would erect two little goalposts and play four against four or five against five. We would play ‘three change goals’ and ‘six finish ball’—meaning half time was when a team scored three goals and the victors were the team that scored six. There were times when the game lasted 10 minutes; there were times when the game took an hour. As kids, fatigue escaped us, as we played until sunset. At school, Perseverance Primary school in Ndola, my first leadership role was as captain of my under-10 team.
<div id="attachment_812" style="width: 766px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-812" class="size-full wp-image-812" src="/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/kalu-and-Charlie.jpg" alt="" width="756" height="458" />Kalusha during his younger years as a soccer player</div>
I played for Buseko Community Centre Club under-14 side. This was my first taste of club football. This was a fantastic team and most of us were also the ball boys for Mufulira Blackpool, an honor which we took very seriously and gave us the privilege of seeing our footballing heroes at close range. Pre-match we watched in awe as our heroes got ready, warmed up and took to the field, with us leading them. The feeling was incredible as we emerged from the tunnel. I will never forget the roar of the crowds as we sprinted to take our positions on the field. That was my first taste of an adrenaline rush; it felt like we were going to war. My favourite ball boy position was always as close to the goalposts as possible. I was fascinated by the skill involved in scoring and found myself engrossed in the magic of the game.
Growing up in Zambia, school football was important and alive with fierce competition. I progressed through primary school as a consistently good player, but I really started to make my mark in secondary school. There were no specific age groups in those times but rather one team per school.
At training, I proved my skill even though I played without boots, was quite skinny and younger than the rest of the team. The coach always found a place for me to travel with them. Whether to carry the balls or just watch from the bench, I was always included and my hunger for the game grew. In 1979, my brother Benjamin, who was playing for Mufulira Blackpool, was called up to the Army.
At the age of 16, I attended trials at my brother’s team and was selected and registered. I fondly remember how proud I was to have finally made the leap from a schoolboy to serious player. It took me 11 games in the reserve side before I broke into the first team. The reserve league in my career was much like playing on the streets where the competition was tough and only the best surfaced.
We won 1-0 during my first match in the first team, which we played against Lusaka Tigers at Matero Stadium in Lusaka; I scored the winning goal! I still remember this day like it was yesterday. The coach always came to training with two team lists—a reserve team list that played before the main game and a first team list. When the coach read out the reserve list and my name was not called out, I started to worry, wondering what I had done wrong to be left out. But, as I was wondering, my name was read out for the first team and I jumped for joy!  It was the most exhilarating experience in my life. I remember informing my parents that I was going into camp with Mufulira Blackpool FC; they were both proud and bemused at my 16-year-old nerve and tenacity.
The following year, I made the switch from Blackpool to the much bigger, if not the biggest club in Zambia, the legendary cup fighters: Mufulira Wanderers. This switch was due to my father being put under pressure by his employers, Mufulira Copper Mines, the then sponsors of Wanderers.
This is where I enjoyed some of my finest days in football to roaring crowds at the packed Shinde Stadium. I was in gradefive by then. I would spend half of my small stipend on cold drinks and bread buns for my classmates; the other half went to my very proud mother. In the same year I made my debut in the Copperbelt School select, as well as being called to the Zambia Schools National Team. These structures were highly successful in unearthing talent nationwide as well as maintaining the continuity that made Zambia an African football powerhouse.
At the age of 19, after rigorous trials, I was picked for Zambia. This was in 1982 just after Zambia came back from the Africa Nations Cup in Libya with a bronze medal.
Looking back at my early football career in Zambia, it is clear to me that everything I needed was instilled in me at a very early age. For me, this hammers home the importance of football development at youth level. This development, coupled with sustainability and continuity, is the key to a strong footballing nation.
There is no better teacher than sport itself, you should strive for enjoyment first, then the technical aspects will follow. There is definitely a strong link between grassroots and glory.

Grassroots And Glory

As I’m sure you can imagine, right now I am a very proud man. To see the Zambian players lift the Africa Cup of Nations trophy in Gabon was a truly incredible moment for me, as I’m sure it was for every Zambian.
There are no short cuts when it comes to winning a major tournament like this. If you’re an underdog, sooner or later you will come up against the big teams and if you want to succeed, you have to be able to beat anyone. And that is exactly what we did.
This success has been the result of many years of planning, going back to Zambia’s failure to qualify for the 2006 World Cup. It was then that we went back to the drawing board and set out four points for the next five years:
<ul>
<li>To take Zambian football into a new dawn, both on and off the field; nationally, continentally and globally.</li>
<li>To galvanise the nation by re-igniting the passion of each and every Zambian for their national teams and clubs.</li>
<li>To strive to attain the highest standard of football through sustained development, key partnerships and international exposure.</li>
<li>For Zambian football to become a continental powerhouse and reclaim its rightful place in African football once again.</li>
</ul>
<div id="attachment_697" style="width: 520px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-697" class="size-full wp-image-697" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/RTR2XK1S.jpg" alt="" width="510" height="322" />Zambia&#8217;s soccer team players pay homage to victims of the Zambian Air Force Buffalo DHC-5D plane crash, along the Atlantic Ocean in Gabon&#8217;s capital Libreville, February 9, 2012. The specially arranged Air Force Buffalo carrying Zambia&#8217;s national football team ditched into the Atlantic Ocean about 500 metres offshore from Libreville on April 27, 1993, killing all 25 passengers and five crew members. Zambia will play Ivory Coast in the final match of the African Cup of Nations football tournament at the Stade De L&#8217;Amitie Stadium on February 12. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya (GABON &#8211; Tags: SPORT SOCCER DISASTER)</div>
This dream was well documented and one that we followed for six years. We put various structures in place, we stuck to our beliefs and I am so happy to look back now and see all that hard work has paid off. Our vision has been achieved; now we have to work even harder to maintain and to improve.
Our biggest asset is our team spirit. The Cup of Nations winning squad isn’t full of superstars playing for top European clubs; it is a predominantly African-based group of players. Five of the squad are based at home in Zambia; eight in South Africa; and five with the DR Congo giants, TP Mazembe, while midfielder Jonas Sakuwaha is with Al-Merreikh in Sudan. Captain Chris Katongo and James Chamanga play in China and the young midfielder, Chisamba Lungu, is in the Russian second flight with Ural Sverdlovsk. Only the centre-forward, Emmanuel Mayuka, plays for a top-flight European club, Swiss side Young Boys.
But they are a very tight-knit team. The players all know one another’s strengths and weaknesses, and that comes from having been developed as a unit over the past few years. We have generated a new crop of players, who are young and determined. As I said, we may not have big names, but we have a team unit, and teamwork is vital for success. You can list all the superstar players you like but if they can’t play together as a team, they won’t win anything. Our togetherness has been our defining strength at the Cup of Nations.
We are also blessed with a fantastic coach in Hervé Renard. He is very popular and respected among the players, but he is also not afraid to impose discipline. And perhaps most importantly, the players believed in and embraced his philosophy and tactics.
Hervé ensured the players were prepared for everything and anything. We rode our luck at times, but slowly the boys started to believe in themselves. We believed in the system we played, we believed in the tactical approach, we believed in the substitutions that were made at key points in games.
Before the competition, we told the players that we had one opportunity and that all we could do was give it our best shot. And as the competition progressed, the more they believed in themselves, the better they played.
Of course, it is particularly poignant that we were crowned champions just a few kilometres away from the exact location where my team-mates perished after their plane went down some 19 years ago. I thought it was important, before the tournament started, to tell the players that if we got to Libreville, it would be emotional because not a day goes past without us thinking about what happened in 1993. When we went to the Sabelir Beach in Libreville to lay wreaths in remembrance of the team that perished there, something truly magical happened. The loud single clap of thunder when we arrived, the curiously warm Atlantic Ocean water and the way in which the waves came up and took the wreaths straight back into the sea were all small, unexplained and enchanting signs that something special was happening.
Since that fateful day in 1993, there have been many highs and lows. But to finally be crowned champions of Africa is the ultimate tribute to those we lost that day. If they were still with us, they would be very proud of this team. Their dreams are our dreams, and the dream to become African champions has come true. For me personally, after reaching the AFCON final in 1994 as captain, with a brand new squad, and narrowly losing to Nigeria, to finally raise the trophy in Libreville at this year’s final is nothing short of the stuff dreams are made of.
We went to the Cup of Nations with humility and soulful inspiration; our boys were incredibly motivated and had great aspirations. Before the competition started, no one would have given us a chance. Now Chipolopolo have made history. Never underestimate the heart of a champion.

Tag: Kalusha Bwalya

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA

Control Your Life And The Ball

How Nelson Mandela Won The World Cup

Grassroots And Glory

Enchanting Signs That Something Special Is Happening