Kenneth Malitoli
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Date of birth | 20 August 1966 | ||
Place of birth | Kitwe, Zambia | ||
Position(s) |
Striker, midfielder | ||
Youth career | |||
1981–1984 | Ajax (Rhokana United Youth Club) | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1984–1992 | Nkana Red Devils | ||
1992–1996 | Espérance | ||
1996–1997 |
El Etiffaq | ||
1998–2000 | Nkana | ||
2001 |
Indeni FC | ||
International career | |||
1988–1999 | Zambia[1] | 80 | (19) |
Managerial career | |||
2001 |
Indeni | ||
2002 | Kitwe United | ||
2003–2004 | Kitwe Flying Bombers | ||
2004–2006 | Forest Rangers | ||
2007 | Nkana | ||
2007–2009 | Nchanga Rangers | ||
2009–2010 | Kalulushi Modern Stars | ||
2011 – 2013 | Livingstone Pirates | ||
2014 – | Lusaka City Council | ||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Kenneth Malitoli (born 20 August 1966) is a Zambian coach and former
Early life
Malitoli was born in Kitwe and he attended Wusakile Primary and Mindolo Secondary Schools. He first joined Rhokana United's Ajax Youth Academy in 1981 before being promoted to the main team three years later.
Playing career
Club career
Malitoli was still a schoolboy when he made his debut in the 1985 season in a star-studded Rhokana side which had by then been renamed Nkana Red Devils. The centre of Nkana's attack featured Zambian stars
Malitoli won the Zambian league’s top goal scorer award in 1989 and repeated the feat twice more in succession in 1990 and 1991, and declared that should he not clinch a professional contract outside Zambia in the 1992 season, then he would certainly retain the award as it had become ‘personal-to-holder.’[3]
Malitoli’s exploits in front of goal brought him to the attention of foreign scouts and
To his credit, Malitoli took this development with good grace and wished Mbasela well, who became the first Nkana player to play professional football in Europe. "I'm not bitter at all about losing out on the German deal. Maybe it just wasn't my time but Gibby's and when my time comes, I shall be ready to go," he said, adding that he was not angry with whoever had decided to leave him out of Zambia's Nations Cup squad.[3]
Malitoli instead signed for Tunisian Giants Espérance in the 1992 summer ttransfer window and was top scorer in his first full season with 18 league goals. He repeated the feat the following season when he scored 14 goals to tie with Abdelkader Belhassen as top goal scorer, and became the first Zambian player to win the CAF Champions League when Espérance beat Zamalek of Egypt 3–1 on aggregate in 1994. He also won the 1995 CAF Super Cup when Espérance beat Motema Pemba 3–0.
In 1996, Malitoli left Espérance and signed for Saudi Arabian club
International career
With his goal-scoring exploits at club level, it was just a matter of time before he got his call-up to the national team and after featuring for Zambia's U-19 team, he made a dream international debut, scoring twice in a 2–1 friendly win against
He scored twice when Zambia beat Gabon 3–0 in a CAN qualifier in July 1989 and also featured for Zambia at the CECAFA tournament later that year, where Zambia reached the semi-finals. He was in the Zambian squad at CAN 1990 though a mix-up meant that he missed the opening 1–0 win over Cameroon, as his name was not on the initial squad list sent to CAF, but he featured in three of the remaining matches.
He scored a goal when Zambia beat
Malitoli himself admitted that he would fail to perform for the national team, with fans at Independence Stadium regularly calling for his substitution.[2] He was also left out of Zambia's CAN 1992 squad and as a result lost out on a contract with 1. FC Union Berlin but he got over the disappointment by signing for Tunisian club Espérance. He featured for Zambia against Madagascar in a World Cup qualifier in January 1993, his assist leading to Kelvin Mutale's opening goal in a 3–1 win though his tame performance led to a substitution in the second half raising doubts as to whether his services would be called upon again, with stiff competition for the forward places offered by younger players like Mutale, Moses Masuwa and Kenan Simambe.
Zambian football was then dealt a tragic blow when the national team perished in the
He was on the score sheet when Zambia beat
He was one of Zambia's key performers at CAN 1996 where the team emerged third and won the inaugural COSAFA Cup the following year. He also featured for Zambia in their first round exit at CAN 1998 under Burkhard Ziese. His last game in a Zambian shirt came when he captained the side in a 7–1 debacle to Honduras in San Pedro Sula on 16 December 1999. When Zambian coach Ben Bamfuchile named his 23-man CAN squad, Malitoli's name was not on the final list.
Coaching career
Malitoli first cut his coaching teeth at Nkana as assistant player-coach to
He then moved to Division II North club Flying Bombers of Kitwe.[4] In September 2004, he was appointed coach of Ndola side Forest Rangers where he stayed for two years,[5][6] and was on the move again in January 2007, when he replaced Jericho Shinde as Head Coach of Nkana, who were then in Division I and aiming to return to the top league and after a flying start that saw them go on a 13 match unbeaten run to open up a 14-point gap. Nkana decided against renewing Malitoli's short term contract for a further six months due to what the club termed budgetary constraints though the move appeared to have been triggered by Nkana picking up just two points in five games after the team was banned from using their home ground due to crowd trouble.[7]
He then joined
He left Stars in 2010 and the following year in February, was appointed coach of Livingstone Division I side Livingstone Pirates. In October 2013, Malitoli was suspended following a streak of poor results,[8] with the club explaining that he was still the coach and was just on suspension. However, the club relieved Malitoli of his duties at the end of the season and he moved to Lusaka City Council F.C. mid-way through the 2014 season.
Political career
In 2001, Malitoli ran for election as a member of parliament in Kitwe’s Wusakile constituency, on the Heritage Party ticket. From a field of 9 candidates, he polled 11.75% of the votes to emerge second.[9]
He has not been active in politics since then.
Personal life
Malitoli is a widower after he lost his wife Given, with whom he had two children, in October 2003. He also has two children from a previous relationship.[3]
References
- ^ Kenneth Malitoli - Goals in International Matches
- ^ a b c Tembo, Benedict, "'Bubble' Malitoli: memorable, top-scoring striker,” Zambia Daily Mail, 17 July 2010 p.10
- ^ a b c d Chirwa, Dingi, “Malitoli keeps on scoring.” The Weekly Post, 21–27 February 1992, p.19
- ^ a b "Zambia : Bubble is new Nchanga Rangers coach". LusakaTimes.com. 18 September 2007. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
- ^ "Zambia: Malitoli to Coach Forest Rangers". The Times of Zambia (Ndola). 23 September 2004. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
- ^ Africa Round-up, 20 October 2010, http://152.111.1.87/argief/berigte/citypress/2002/10/20/14/4.html Archived 19 August 2014 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Zambia : TUESDAY SPORTS BRIEFS". LusakaTimes.com. 26 June 2007. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
- ^ Miti, Christopher, "Livingstone Pirates suspend Malitoli for poor results." The Post, http://postzambia.com/post-read_article.php?articleId=39868 28 October 2013
- ^ "ELECTORAL COMMISSION OF ZAMBIA" (PDF). 23 January 2002. Retrieved 25 July 2018.