The British press once dubbed him ‘the African hurricane’ and in South Africa they called him ‘Ntofo Ntofo’ – a not too complimentary reference to his bulky frame. However, there is no doubt that Zambia’s Collins Mbesuma stormed South Africa’s footballing scene unlike any other player of the last decade.
He set new standards in front of goal but more importantly, propelled his club Kaizer Chiefs to a second successive premier league title.
That did not look possible for a few months but Mbesuma’s goal scoring spree ensured Chiefs their title, including a hatrick on the opening match of the season against Dynamos and another hatrick past former Bafana Bafana and Fulham goalkeeper Arense Andre’ against Sundown and both goals in a last decisive end-of-season match against Bloemfontein Celtic.
Mbesuma scored 35 goals in the season – a new record set since the unification of the country’s professional league in 1978. There was 25 in the league, which won him the Golden Boot award, plus ten in cup competitions. In addition, he was named South Africa’s footballer of year.
Mbesuma had boldly predicted a personal haul of 40 at the start of the campaign but by the end of June 2005, he had scored 44 goals for both club and country. He scored five goals in the 2006 world cup qualifiers and four goals in the cosafa castle cup. And this made him the hottest striker on the continent.
Strong, Pacey and with a lethal left foot, Mbesuma quickly graduated from under-23 international level into Zambia’s World Cup team.
His performances for the Olympic team caught the attention of Kaizer Chiefs who bought him in January from Roan United in Zambia, where he averaged a goal every other game.
He scored on his debut in South Africa’s premier league in the 2003/04 season against Black Leopards but injured himself in the process and spent several weeks on the sidelines.
Chiefs’ Romanian-born coach Ted Dumitru is full of praise for Mbesuma. “He’s composed, creative, very fast and aggressive and his position in attacking situations is better than most strikers I have seen,” he said.
The striker had also impressed greatly for his country in the qualifying programme for the 2006 World Cup in Germany and he scored a hatrick on his full debut against Congo as he defied all odds by breaking the Congolese’s 15 years unbeaten home record at their spiritual stadium, massamba in Ponte Noire.
Mbesuma made a dream debut for Zambia in 2003 as he created two goals before scoring the last goal and had won four caps by the end of that year, while at the same time being a key member of Zambia’s under-23 side that almost qualified for the Athens Olympics. The burly striker has gone on to score 11 goals in 21 appearances for zambia and was member of the chipolopolo squad that featured at 2006 African cup of nations.
Zambian legend Kalusha Bwalya said: “He has a precious gift of knowing exactly how to score goals. It is a value that only the best strikers in the world have, and he has it. He doesn’t panic in front of goal and he is able to place the ball when he is under pressure’’.
After such an achievement, a move to a more prestigious league looked assured, and indeed, it was enough to catch the eye of Sam Allardyce, the then manager of Bolton Wanderers. However, Collins was reluctant to take a trial at the club, feeling his quality was already proven, and so this allowed then-Portsmouth manager Alain Perrin to snap him up on a three-year contract in the summer of 2005.
Portsmouth chief executive Peter Storrie welcomed the goal-scoring ace’s move to Fratton Park,Storrie said on the club’s website after Mbesuma signed the deal.“What we have got is a player of exceptional talent who has been a goal-scoring machine in Africa and the player’s goal record says it all”. Storrie said on the club’s website after Mbesuma signed the deal“A lot of extremely big clubs across Europe showed an interest in the player and I am extremely happy we have got in for him when we did.
“We have brought an exciting young talent to Pompey whose goal exploits had aroused more than a few clubs but I have to stress that he will need a period of adjustment.”
Work permit problems due to the low ranking of his country meant he was not given clearance to join the club until late into preseason.
Storrie added
The signing of Collins proved to be a mistake, and it was noted by many that he appeared overweight early in the season when playing for the reserve team. This was further supported by the fact that he never started a match for Portsmouth and only came on for four brief substitute appearances, all in the first half of the season. In July 2006 he began a season long loan with CS Marítimo where regained his form – netting in seven goals in 17 matches despite having an injury plagued season. He also won player of the month and finished as top scorer at his club.
Despite having, a fruitful season with the Portuguese side, the former Roan united and Amakhosi dribbling wizard signed a three-year deal with Turkish side, Bursapor in July 2007.
Mbesuma missed Ghana 2008 African Cup of Nations through injury and there’s a growing fear that fans may not be able to see his best again because his fitness problems and persisting ankle injury.
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