On Thursday morning, Musonda, who is based in Belgium, took to Facebook to salute his former teammate, recalling fond memories from their time together with the Zambia National Team.
“I called him Great Kalu.. He thought I was kidding. Now it’s his trademark name.. Statue figure!” he wrote.
“Only ba Zoom (Samuel Ndhlovu) and 107 Ucar (Godfrey Chitalu) deserve his accolade status in Zambia and beyond.”
Musonda, who played 48 matches for Zambia and was one of the stars at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, where Zambia reached the quarterfinals after thrashing Italy and Guatemala with 4-0 scores, described how he knew Bwalya.
“I was about 14 years old when Kalu (Kalushya Bwalya) started playing for Mighty (Mufulira Wanderers). A few years later, we played together for 6 months before he left for Belgium. Kalu – Lusha was the name on everyone’s lips in Mufulira. Unbelievable!
“He called me Charly before he changed and started calling me Mr. Muzonda for reasons known to himself. I recall him telling me every time we went into camp: ‘Charly.. Some people are born Great… Some archive Greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them over and over again,’
“Along the way, I started calling him Great Kalu, and after that, I never heard him say that quote ever again; probably he was waiting for me to cement his belief.”
Musonda, an Anderlecht legend, believes Bwalya set a standard for Zambian footballers and that the country will produce another African footballer of the year in the future, but not one like the former Chipolopolo coach and FAZ boss.
“Great Kalu has set the highest standard for any Zambian footballer.. Unmatched achievements, bravo!
“Zambia will produce another African footballer of the year in the future but he’s not going to be like Kalu the one I played with at Mighty, Cercle Brugge, and the Zambia National Team.
Musonda added: “Maybe if I had played more years without my knee injury he was going to scoop another one, am sure he knows that.”
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Bwalya is Zambia’s all-time third-highest goal scorer, with 39 goals in 87 appearances. He is only behind Africa’s all-time leading scorer, Godfrey Chitalu, who scored 79 goals in 111 games, and Alex Chola, who netted 43 goals in 102 appearances.
He is also the only Zambian player in history to win the African Footballer of the Award in 1988.
