Charles Musonda Snr: A Career That Ended In Devastation

The achievements of one Charles Musonda are often ignored and overshadowed by those of legendary Zambian football icon Kalusha Bwalya. But Musonda is one of the high profile players who ever played for Zambia. Today, Musonda is still an unsung hero due to his premature career at the national team.

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He stays in Belgium and recently had a role of Assistant Coach at African giants TP Mazembe.

Charles Musonda Snr. (Right) with his son Charlie Musonda

Just like many legendary Zambian players, Musonda was born in Mufurila in the Copperbelt of Zambia in 1969. He started his football career at Mighty Mufulira Wanderers where Bwalya was one of his teammates.

However, his debut at the Zambia National Team was in 1988 when Zambia faced faced  Ghana in Lusaka at the Independence stadium. Musonda did not disappoint in his first call up to the national team.

This earned him a place at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul South Korea where Zambia had a successful run beating Italy and Guatemala by 4 - 0 scoreline.

Musonda's career at the national team was cut short in 1993 after he got traumatised following the tragic accident which claimed the entire Zambia national team off the coast of Gabon enroute to Senegal for the World Cup qualifiers.

Reports indicate that Musonda was supposed to be part of the travelling squad but his coach at Anderlect told him to reject the call.

In terms of club career, Musonda had a successful club career with Belgian side Cercle Brugge and Anderlect among other other clubs.

Charles Musonda at Anderlect

Musonda's career suffered a setback in 1991 when he suffered a nagging knee injury which lasted for five years before he hanged his boot to become a youth coach with AA Ghent before he settled at Anderlect.

Some of the players who passed through Musonda's hands at the Anderlect youth club include: Romelu Lukaku, Jordan Lukaku, Youri Tielemann, Kelvin De Bruyne, Dries Martens, Marianne Fellaini and Adrian Januzaj.

During his active career Musonda won the Belgian League three times, the Belgian Cup and was one of the runners up for the European Cup Winners Cup which later became the UEFA Europa League.

Musonda is the father to Chelsea player Charlie Musonda Junior who refused to play for Zambia, Lamisha Musonda and Tilka Musonda who both had stint at Chelsea youth clubs.