DESPITE never being a regular at the national team, goalkeeper Moses Mapulanga, who died six days after celebrating his 29th birthday, achieved most things he set out to.
His former teammate and childhood friend Wilmore Haatembo says if you are looking for someone who lived his dream, you may not have to gaze beyond Mapulanga.
Haatembo says Mapulanga honed his career at a time when there was not much expectation from players that hail from Mazabuka in so far as climbing the football ladder is concerned.
“We believed that if you are player raised in Mazabuka, the highest you can go is playing for Nakambala Leopards.
Playing for Nkana or other top clubs outside Mazabuka was a far-fetched dream,” Haatembo says.
However, inspired by Chipolopolo legend Kennedy Mweene, Mapulanga was among the players who wanted to challenge that notion.
Leaving Nakambala and ending up at Nkana where he eventually won the league and playing in the Champions League was a dream lived for Mapulanga.
“He had great dreams for his career, Kennedy Mweene as someone who hails from Magoye was Mapulanga’s biggest inspiration,” Haatembo recalls.
Mapulanga started out as a goalkeeper for Nkabika Hotspurs a then-feeder team for Nakambala Leopards. He, together with Haatembo and striker Lameck Silwaba was later promoted to train with the main team in 2009.
“We were registered at the main team in 2009, but we did not play any game,” Haatembo says, “It was still a big thing for us to train for Nakambala.”
Mapulanga’s brilliance was visible at the 2010 regional COSAFA under – 20 Championship in Botswana where he helped Zambia to the title.
In 2011, Mapulanga got the taste of Super League football when Nakambala won promotion from Division One South.
“He was celebrated in Mazabuka, because was among the first young goalkeepers to play for Nakambala. His call up to the under – 20 was such a big thing,” Haatembo says.
In 2017, he was on the wanted list of both Nkana and Power Dynamos, but ended up picking scarlet – shirted for yellow despite having trained with Power for some days.
He kept a clean sheet in his Nkana debut a 3 – 0 win over Zanaco during the semi-final of the Charity Shield at Arthur Davies Stadium in Kitwe.
At Nkana, he established himself as first-choice having been brought in by Zeddy Saileti as a replacement for Scot Ngokene who had left the club.
In his maiden season, he helped Nkana to a third-place finish on the log with 71 points, three behind champions Zesco United; this was enough to earn him a player of the year award at the club.
In 2018, he was called to the national team for African Nations Championship in Morocco where Zambia was eliminated from quarterfinal stage.
His four-year spell at Nkana saw him win the league, the ABSA Cup and the Samuel ‘Zoom’ Ndhlovu Charity Shield.
Along the way, he has lost his position to Allan Chibwe, then regained it after Chibwe’s departure only to lose it Kelvin Malunga.
Described as a hard worker, the Mapulanga’s future at Nkana was threatened when they brought in Telbert Shumba from Zimbabwe relegating him to number two, then three in the pecking order.
However, he managed to work his way up again and regained his first-choice position under Kelvin Kaindu and was among the best players during the Confederation Cup campaign.
But when he stood between the sticks in a 1 – 0 win over Red Arrows at Nkana Stadium on September 23. 2021, it would be his last competitive act.
Haatembo says Mapulanga would be glad that he kept a clean sheet in his final game.
Born on January 27, 1993, Mapulanga attended Basic School at Nakambala Basic School before proceeding to Grade Eight at Ndeke Basic School.
Nakambala and Nkana aside, he had a brief stint at Mazabuka United.
Mapulanga spent the most part of his life being in the last line of defence, but when he needed to be defended, his organ of defence – the liver – failed him on February 2.
His brother Evans confirmed in an interview on Thursday that Maulanga died of liver complications at Mazabuka General Hospital.
A father of two minors, Malulanga was buried on Sunday in Mazabuka.
[Mathews Kabamba, Reporter/Photographer, Zambia Daily Mail Limited]
