By Ponga Liwewe
A wayward hairstyle was all it took for Lucky Msiska to lose his starting position in the Zambia national team as they prepared to travel to the Olympic Games in South Korea .At the first sight of his newly braided dreadlocks, a frown crossed the faces of the technical staff and from then on, Msiska’s fate was unfairly sealed.
As Zambia headed to Seoul, it was clear that he had fallen out of favour. In training, Johson Bwalya worked with the expected starting eleven, while Msiska had to make do with a kick-about with the substitutes and reserves. Prior to that, however, he had been a regular in the national team.
His club career started to take off when he played for Red Stars, the Edinburgh Hotel team, in the amateur league. He caught the eye of Power Dynamos coaches and was brought in to train at Arthur Davies Stadium. There, he impressed so much that he was immediately elevated to training with the main team, and made his debut without having to play in the reserves.
He slotted into the right-wing position and was soon running rings around defenders almost at will. His big test came in 1982 when he faced the national teams fullback, John ‘Libya’ Kalusa, in a match between Power Dynamos and their biggest rivals, Nkana. For ninety minutes, Msiska was unstoppable. By the end of the match he had tormented Kalusa, going past him at almost every opportunity with a bewildering array of stopovers that left the Zambian international in a state of discombobulation.
At the end of the year, Msiska was in the Power Dynamos team that faced Arab Contractors in the final of the Africa Cup Winners Cup. For all their efforts, Dynamos came off second-best after losing both legs by 2-0 scorelines. Msiska, nonetheless, had done enough to catch the attention of the national team selectors and started to earn call-ups to the senior team in 1983, though sometimes missing the final selection.
He was in the Zambian team that went on to win the 1984 East and Central Africa Challenge Cup, when Zambia defeated Malawi 3-0 after a penalty shootout. In 1984, Power Dynamos took the league title, fittingly at home under floodlights against Mufulira Wanderers and doing so in style, wining, 4-1. Msiska was pivotal to that success. In a team full of high quality players with Wisdom Chansa, Alex Chola, Stafford Mtalama, and others all in top form, his star rose to greater heights.
In the era of the 4-2-4 formation, wingers hugged the touchline and their main function was to get the ball to the by-line and whip in as many crosses as possible for the two strikers or midfielders arriving late in the box. They sometimes had the liberty to cut into the box and shoot if the opportunity availed itself. Msiska was a master at getting past the full-back. As he approached at full speed, he made several step-overs and just when the full-back was off balance he took control of the ball and went either left or right, leaving the defender flummoxed.
The following season he was signed by Belgian side Roselare and became one of a handful of players to play professional football in Europe.
Msiska was in the Zambian line-up when Cameroon was thoroughly beaten 4-1 at the Independence Stadium, and also played in the retun leg that ended in a 1-1 draw. He would hold this position until 20-year-old Johnson Bwalya broke into the senior team in April 1987 in an All- Africa Games match against Malawi. From then on it was an even contest for the no.7 shirt.
A year later, as Zambia geared up for the Olympic Games, both players were in fine form and in contention for the number seven jersey. Msiska, however, quite unfairly, fell foul of the coaches for daring to appear in his unconventional hairstyle and in the conservative environment of the day, was seen to be growing too big for his boots.
In Seoul he was largely restricted to the bench, only coming on for the final match against Germany when Zambia was 2-0 down, eventually losing the match 4-0.
A year later Msiska was back in the team when Zambia began the qualification series for the 1990 World Cup. In a tough group with Morocco, Tunisia and Zaire, he played a vital role in Zambia’s challenge but the team came short, losing on the final day in Tunisia by a single goal. Msiska’s highlight of the qualification was a goal in the magnificent 4-2 defeat of Zaire as he scored the opening goal through a rare header.
A few months later, in 1990, Zambia were at the Africa Cup of Nations in Algeria, minus both Kalusha Bwalya and Charles Musonda who were injured. In their absence the team’s hopes were somewhat diminished. Zambia ultimately went on to finish third and Msiska again was in good form during the tournament, starting three matches and coming on as a substitute twice. Zambia beat Senegal 1-0 to take an impressive third place even in the absence of the team’s two best players, and Msiska flew back to Belgium content with his contribution.
He would wear the national shirt a few more times until 1991, but at the age of thirty-one he proved the selectors wrong as he still continued to star for Roselare in Belgium, still bringing crowds to their feet with his phenomenal dribbling skills.