Gibby Mbasela
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Personal information | |||
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Full name | Biggie Mbasela | ||
Date of birth | 24 October 1962 | ||
Place of birth | Kitwe, Northern Rhodesia | ||
Date of death | 1 May 2000 | (aged 37)||
Place of death | Kitwe, Zambia | ||
Position(s) | Forward | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1983–1985 | Big Coke F.C. | ||
1986 | Kalulushi Modern Stars | ||
1987 | Mufulira Wanderers | ||
1988–1989 | Kalulushi Modern Stars | ||
1990–1991 | Nkana F.C. | ||
1992–1993 | FC Union Berlin | 44 | (17) |
1993–1994 |
Espérance ST | ||
1994–1999 | Kalulushi Modern Stars | ||
International career | |||
1986–1997 | Zambia | 51 | (10) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Biggie Mbasela (24 October 1962 – 1 May 2000), better known as Gibby Mbasela was a
Playing career
Mbasela was born in Kitwe and after playing youth football and for amateur teams he joined Zambian League Division II side Big Coke in 1983 and moved to Premier League team Kalulushi Modern Stars two years later.[1]
He was one of Stars' leading performers, winning many admirers with his dribbling skills. He earned the nickname "Cool It" due to his tendency to slow down the game and dribble at his own pace, as well as several other nicknames all in attestation to his ball skills – "Dribbling Wizard," "Mupike" meaning 'dribble past him,’ "Bapwishe" meaning 'dribble past them all,’ which he was quite capable of. Early in his career, a newspaper report erroneously gave his first name as Gibby and this was the name he would be known by throughout his career.
At the start of the 1987 season he moved on to a bigger challenge when he signed for Mufulira Wanderers for a transfer fee of K3,000. After an impressive showing as a winger or centre-forward which was rewarded with a Heroes & Unity Cup medal, Mbasela returned to Kalulushi at the end of the season and stayed with Stars for two seasons. He was on the move again but this time to league champions Nkana Red Devils where we would form a deadly partnership with Kenneth "Bubble" Malitoli which helped Nkana win the league championship in 1990. With his distinctive 'table-cut' hairstyle, Mbasela created so many opportunities for his strike partner and also weighed in with a fair number of goals. He was man of the match in the Heroes & Unity Cup final which Nkana won by beating Kabwe Warriors 2–0, scoring the first goal with a glorious strike and setting up the second for Beston Chambeshi.[2] Although Nkana suffered a major disappointment when they lost the Africa Club Champion's Cup to JS Kabylie of Algeria on post-match penalties in Lusaka, Mbasela crowned a fine season with the 1990 top player award. The following season, he won the Charity Shield and the Independence Cup.
After starring for Zambia at
In July 1993 Mbasela was on the move again this time to Tunisian giants Esperance after turning down a number of offers including one from Saudi Arabian club Al Shabab.[4] He stayed at Esperance for a single season and left in June 1994 to return to Kalulushi Modern Stars.
After a serious injury sustained while playing for Zambia in a World Cup qualifier against
National team
Mbasela was first called to the National team in 1986 by coach Brightwell Banda and made his debut when Zambia travelled to Malawi for a two-game friendly series in June 1986. He also played in a friendly against Zaire which Zambia lost 1–0 in Lusaka in September of the same year. He was then left out of the team until the following year's CECAFA tournament where Zambia was eliminated in the first round.
He was out of the team for most of 1988, missing out on the
Mbasela scored a goal when Zambia beat Egypt 2–1 in a friendly at Nkana stadium on 20 December 1988 and the following year featured prominently in the 1990 World Cup qualifiers. He was not part of Zambia's bronze medal-winning squad at CAN 1990 in Algeria but he featured in all of Zambia's games after that, and was part of the victorious 1991 CECAFA squad.
At
Mbasela led Zambia's attack when they beat
He scored Zambia's first goal in a 4–0 rout of Senegal in a World Cup qualifier in Lusaka and was in the team that lost out on World Cup qualification, losing 1–0 to Morocco in Casablanca.
Mbasela was in Zambia's team at CAN 1994 and made a substitute appearance in the 1–0 win over Ivory Coast but was sent home in disgrace for disciplinary reasons, when he refused to sit on the bench after differing with the coaching staff over playing time. Without him Zambia soldiered on and went on to lose the final 2–1 to Nigeria.
He made an ill-fated comeback in another World Cup qualifier against Zaire in Harare in April 1997, but this time, there was no repeat of his heroics of four years ago as the substitute appearance only lasted three minutes and he had to leave the pitch with a compound fracture of the right leg which would keep him out of action for two years. This turned out to be his last game for Zambia. He made 51 appearances for Zambia scoring 10 goals.
Death
In early 2000, Mbasela began experiencing poor health. He was admitted to Kitwe Central Hospital where he died on 1 May 2000.[4] He was buried at Chamboli Cemetery in Kitwe and was survived by a wife Rebecca and four children.[1]
Honours
- Zambian Premier League: 1989, 1990
- Heroes & Unity Cup: 1987, 1989
- Independence Cup: 1989
- Charity Shield: 1989, 1990, 1991
Individual Awards
- Zambian Footballer of the Year: 1990
References
- ^ a b Anon. "Gibby Mbasela buried" Times of Zambia, 4 May 2000, p.10
- ^ Banda, Mann "Devils lift cup" Sunday Times of Zambia, 12 August 1990, p.8
- ^ Biggie "Gibby" Mbasela immer unioner https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://www.immerunioner.de/mbasela-gibby.htm&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dgibby%2Bmbasela%26hl%3Den%26tbo%3Dd%26rlz%3D1T4ADFA_enZM428ZM430&sa=X&ei=VFO7ULwWk5aFB_vCgMAE&ved=0CH4Q7gEwDw (retrieved 2 December 2012)
- ^ a b Chansa, Melody "Gibby Mbasela dies" Times of Zambia, 2 May 2000, p.10
- ^ Gondwe, Kennedy and Chisenga, Oliver (28 June 1999) "Kalulushi Stars hold Zanaco" All-Africa http://allafrica.com/stories/199906280142.html (retrieved 27 November 2012)
External links
- Gibby Mbasela – FIFA competition record (archived)