Ilunga Mwepu

Mwepu Ilunga (born August 22, 1949) is a former football defender from Zaire (now DR Congo). His name is also written as "Alunga Mwepu".

1974 World Cup

He played for his country during the 1974 FIFA World Cup, where he became famous for running out of his team's defensive wall and kicking away a Brazilian free kick in the elimination round match between the two nations before the ball was in play. [ [http://www.btinternet.com/~upforgrabsnow/50moments.html Top 50 football moments] (Accessed June 10 2006) ] He was subsequently cautioned; however, he still seemed oblivious as to what he had done wrong. Zaire went on to lose that match, 0-3. [ [http://2002.fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/02/en/pf/h/pwc/mr/1987.html Official FIFA match report] (Accessed June 10 2006) ] They also lost their first two matches to Scotland, 0-2, and Yugoslavia, 0-9.

The match took place during the 1974 FIFA World Cup. Zaire were then the first sub-Saharan African team to qualify for the World Cup finals, however during the tournament the players discovered they would not be paid. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport3/worldcup2002/hi/history/newsid_1993000/1993333.stm BBC Sport - "1974: Zaire's show of shame"] (Accessed June 10 2006) ] . He played his club football for TP Mazembe in his native Zaire.

Retirement

Ilunga lives in Malta, where he is an assistant coach in the Adelaide Cini Championship with Girgenti Athletics. [ [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/osm/story/0,,1786870,00.html Observer - "Total recall "] (Accessed June 10 2006) ] .

External links

* [http://football.guardian.co.uk/theknowledge/story/0,,1735289,00.html The most extreme case of a professional footballer's ignorance of the game's most basic rules] - The Guardian accessed 23 March 2006.
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PROehLAY88 Mwepu Ilunga's defensive flair] - Youtube

References