 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Léon Mukuna Mutombo | ||
| Date of birth | (1928-11-01)1 November 1928 | ||
| Place of birth | Léopoldville,Belgian Congo (modern-dayKinshasa,Democratic Republic of the Congo) | ||
| Date of death | 28 January 2020(2020-01-28) (aged 91) | ||
| Place of death | Ghent, Belgium | ||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[1] | ||
| Position | Forward[1] | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1954 | Victoria Club | ||
| 1954–1957 | Sporting Lisbon | 13 | (19) |
| 1957 | Victoria Club | ||
| 1957–1961 | Gent | ||
| 1961–1966 | SV Waregem | ||
| International career | |||
| 1959 | Belgium B | 2 | (1) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1965 | DR Congo | ||
| 1966–1967 | TP Engelbert | ||
| 1968–1970 | DR Congo | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Léon Mokuna Mutombo (1 November 1928 – 28 January 2020), nicknamedLe Trouet orTrouet, was a Belgian-Congolese professionalfootballer who played forSporting Lisbon,Gent andSV 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" byBBC Sport.[2][3]
Léon Mokuna was born inLéopoldville,Belgian Congo[1] in 1928 and grew up in Léopoldville (now Kinshasa) where he became a protégé of the football-promotingScheutist missionaryRaphaël de la Kethulle de Ryhove, known as "Tata Raphaël". Playing football in Léopoldville, Mokuna gained the French nicknameLe Trouet orTrouet ("little hole", phonetically derived fromtroué! or "holed!") for reputedly having scoring agoal with such force that it snapped the net. He retained it throughout his playing career.[2]
Mokuna was originally talent-spotted bySporting Lisbon which visited Léopoldville in 1954 during a tour of neighbouringPortuguese Angola. He moved toPortugal 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 forVictoria Club (today AS Vita Club) at Léopoldville.[2]
In 1957, Mokuna left the Congo for Belgium to play forKAA Gent ("La Gantoise") where he was twice the team's top goalscorer (1959 and 1960) and became "a club icon".[2] 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-calledBelgicains who arrived from the Congo to play at Belgian clubs after 1959. However, a mixed-race playerLouis Cousin (1912–89) had played forDaring Brussels during the 1930s and is now thought to hold the title.[4]
Mokuna played twice for theBelgium B national team in 1959. He became the first black player to represent the country, though he blamed racial prejudice for not being selected for themain national side during the same period.[2] He left KAA Gent in 1961, later playing forKSV Waregem (1961–66) andKV Kortrijk where he immediately suffered a double fracture to his leg that ended his playing career.[2] He gained Belgian nationality in 1959.
AfterCongolese independence in 1960, Mokuna coached thenational football team at the1965 Africa Cup of Nations during the country's first appearance inthe tournament. The team lost toGhana andCote d'Ivoire and was eliminated.[2] He also managed the Congolese national team from 1968 to 1970.
Mokuna returned to the Congo (laterZaire) after the end of his Belgian football career and worked in business.[2] However, his property was later confiscated by the regime ofMobutu Sese Seko.
He remained inGhent until his death at age 91 on 28 January 2020.[4] Mokuna is the grandfather of the Belgian footballerDavid Mukuna-Trouet, born in 2001.[5]