Kalusha Bwalya

Kalusha Bwalya (born August 16, 1963 in Mufulira), known as simply Kalusha, is a Zambian footballer and coach. He is Zambia's most capped player, all-time top goalscorer, and is regarded as the greatest Zambian player to play the game. He was named African Footballer of the Year in 1988 by the magazine France Football, and was nominated for the 1996 FIFA World Player of the Year where he was voted the 12th-best player in the world.

His older brother Benjamin Bwalya played professional football, and his younger brother Joel Bwalya also played for the Zambia national football team.

International career

Bwalya was a member of the national squad that participated at the 1988 Olympic Games, making his mark with a most famous hat-trick in a 4-0 victory against Italy. At the full international level, he appeared in 147 international matches and scored 100 goals from 1983 to 2004. He debuted against Uganda in 1983, and appeared in multiple tournaments, including six editions of the African Cup of Nations.

Although he was captain of the national football team during the qualification matches for the 1994 World Cup, Kalusha was not on the ill-fated flight on April 27, 1993 when the entire team and its management were killed when the plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off Gabon. Kalusha Bwalya, Africa's most famous "Number 11", took on the mantle of spearheading the revival of the national...
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