Mwepu Ilunga

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.

Mwepu Ilunga
Personal information
Full name Joseph Mwepu Ilunga
Date of birth (1949-08-22)22 August 1949
Place of birth Belgian Congo
Date of death 8 May 2015(2015-05-08) (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

Mwepu 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

Mwepu 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

Mwepu Ilunga died in May 2015 after a long illness[8] in the Saint-Joseph de Limete Hospital, Kinshasa.[3]

References
  1. Appearances for Congo-Kinshasa National Team
  2. Zaïre's World Cup squad 1974 - Planet World Cup
  3. Foot: l’ancien Léopard Joseph Ilunga Mwepu décédé à l’âge de 66 ans - Radio Okapi (in French)
  4. "Top 50 football moments". Archived from the original on December 11, 2006. Retrieved 2008-03-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) (Accessed June 10, 2006)
  5. "The most extreme case of a professional footballer's ignorance of the game's most basic rules". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 March 2006.
  6. "BBC Sport - Football - Zaire free-kick farce explained". BBC News. 2010-05-28. Retrieved 2013-11-15.
  7. "Iran 3-1 Zaire". Teammelli.com. Retrieved 2022-03-17.
  8. "Former Zaire defender Mwepu Ilunga dies aged 66 after long illness". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
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