Joseph Mwepu Ilunga (22 August 1949 – 8 May 2015) was a football defender from Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo). His name is also written as Alunga Mwepu.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Joseph Mwepu Ilunga | ||
| Date of birth | 22 August 1949 | ||
| Place of birth | Belgian Congo | ||
| Date of death | 8 May 2015 (aged 65) | ||
| Place of death | Kinshasa, DR Congo | ||
| Position(s) | Defender | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| TP Mazembe | |||
| International career | |||
| 1971–1975 | Zaïre[1] | 21 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Club career
editMwepu played club football for Englebert TP Mazembe in his native Zaire,[2] with whom he won the 1967 African Cup of Champions and 1968 African Cup of Champions.[3]
International career
editMwepu played for his country, then called Zaire, during the 1974 FIFA World Cup. Zaire were then the first sub-Saharan African team to qualify for the World Cup finals. During their group match against Brazil, he ran out of his team's defensive wall and kicked away a free kick before the ball was in play.[4] He was subsequently cautioned, but some commentators felt that he seemed oblivious as to what he had done wrong.[5] However, Mwepu claimed that he was quite aware of the rules – as would be expected from an experienced player in a successful side – and was hoping that the referee would send him off. The intended red card would have been a protest against his country's authorities, who were alleged to be depriving the players of their rightful earnings.[6] The 1974 World Cup did not mark the end of Mwepu's international career, as he was included in Zaire's squad at the 1975 Iran International Tournament.[7]
Death
editMwepu Ilunga died in May 2015 after a long illness[8] in the Saint-Joseph de Limete Hospital, Kinshasa.[3]
References
edit- ^ Appearances for Congo-Kinshasa National Team
- ^ Zaïre's World Cup squad 1974 - Planet World Cup
- ^ a b Foot: l’ancien Léopard Joseph Ilunga Mwepu décédé à l’âge de 66 ans - Radio Okapi (in French)
- ^ "Top 50 football moments". Archived from the original on 11 December 2006. Retrieved 12 March 2008.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) (Accessed 10 June 2006) - ^ "The most extreme case of a professional footballer's ignorance of the game's most basic rules". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 March 2006.
- ^ "BBC Sport - Football - Zaire free-kick farce explained". BBC News. 28 May 2010. Retrieved 15 November 2013.
- ^ "Iran 3-1 Zaire". Teammelli.com. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
- ^ "Former Zaire defender Mwepu Ilunga dies aged 66 after long illness". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
External links
edit- Mwepu Ilunga's defensive flair on YouTube
- Mwepu Ilunga – FIFA competition record (archived)