ANOTHER VVIP INVITE FOR CHUNGA PROUDLY ZIMBABWEAN . . . Former Warriors captain Moses Chunga, draped in his national flag, was part of the huge crowd that marched on the streets of Harare in support of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces on Saturday
PROUDLY ZIMBABWEAN . . . Former Warriors captain Moses Chunga, draped in his national flag, was part of the huge crowd that marched on the streets of Harare in support of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces on Saturday

PROUDLY ZIMBABWEAN . . . Former Warriors captain Moses Chunga, draped in his national flag, was part of the huge crowd that marched on the streets of Harare in support of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces on Saturday

Robson Sharuko Senior Sports Editor—
ZIMBABWEAN football legend Moses Chunga has received a VVIP invitation from his old Belgian club, S. C. Eendracht Aalst, for a special occasion to mark the Silver Jubilee of his final appearance in their colours amid indications he could be honoured with a stand of the club’s stadium being named after him. The 52-year-old former Warriors captain, the first in-field Zimbabwean footballer to be traded to a European club after Independence, played his last official match for E. Aalst — a club he also captained during his stay in Belgium — in 1992 before injuries brought a premature end to his five-year romance there. Five years ago, Chunga revisited Aalst at the invitation of his former club and was honoured by E. Aalst for his distinguished service to the team while the City Council invited him to sign the Golden Book of Aalst, the community’s highest civic honour which can be bestowed on an individual.

While his critics have claimed Chunga played for an obscure Belgian club, his supporters have always argued that the doors to European football, back in those days, were not as wide open for African footballers as they are now and only the very, very best made the grade.

Prior to his deal in Belgium, Chunga’s talents had attracted the interest of English side Nottingham Forest, then a giant in the game in the world and just a few years after the club had been crowned European champions, and the forward had trials under legendary coach Brian Clough. While Chunga impressed during his trials at Forest, his failure to stick to the orders of the coach, and famously choosing to dribble past a cluster of defenders when ordered to pass, forced Clough to reconsider hiring him.

The talented forward first went to Aalst on loan, but the Belgian club decided to turn the deal into a permanent transfer after paying Dynamos around $100 000 to secure his services. Chunga arrived in Belgium at a time when Zambian football icon, Kalusha Bwalya, the only player from Southern Africa to be crowned the African Footballer of the Year in 1988, was also playing in that European country after having arrived at Cercle Brugge three years earlier.

E. Aalst sent the VVIP invitation to Chunga and asked the legendary footballer, whose 46 goals in 1986 on the domestic football scene remain a benchmark for marksmanship after Independence, to be accompanied by his wife Lorraine for the special occasion. “We are happy that the Consulate of the Kingdom of Belgium has brought us into contact a few years ago,’’ club chief operating officer, Yannick van Aken, said in a letter sent to Chunga on November 1, this year.

“We trust that you’re well. As we are 25 years after you last kicked a ball in the Pierre Cornelis Stadium, the Board of Directors of S.C. Eendracht Aalst, would like to invite you to visit your former football club. We would like to ask you and your wife Lorraine to give the kick-off of our home game . . . It will be a great honour to welcome you back in Aalst after your last visit in 2012. You are still one of our most legendary players (and) many fans keep talking about you.

“We will arrange a great program for your visit. We will invite you to have dinner with us in our club restaurant, there is the kick-off, the interviews with newspapers and television, a visit at the radio station, an autograph and photo session with the fans and, of course, we will introduce you to the players and the staff.

“Sharing your great experience will certainly be valuable for the team. We are looking forward to meeting and greeting you and your wife Lorraine in Aalst, let us know when you will arrive at Brussels Airport and we will pick you up.’’ Chunga is scheduled to spend two weeks in Belgium during his latest visit and there are indications that, as part of the programme, a stand will also be named in his honour.

Aalst, who are now playing in Belgium’s lower leagues after surviving a tempting period in which they plunged into liquidation, have never forgotten their hero who arrived in Europe in 1987, as an unpolished diamond, and exploded into one of the best players to play for the club. Frank De Roose, who was club president in 2012, described Chunga as “one of the best players who has ever played for our team Eendracht Aalst.”

Chunga quickly established himself in the team and helped Aalst to gain promotion into the Belgian top-flight league and, by 1991, he had become the star of the side. When Aalst were relegated at the end of the ’92 season, they decided they couldn’t afford to keep Chunga within their ranks, given his value, wage demands and increased interest from other clubs, and chose to sell him.

The Belgian club put a $140 000 price tag, then quite a huge amount in player transfers, on Chunga. “He is the star of the team and has been for the past five years and it was Moses who helped us come back into Division One last season,” the then manager of Aalst, Patrik Orlans, revealed, in May ’92. It’s just that we can no longer afford him. We are going back to Division Two and took a decision three or four weeks ago that all three of our professionals were not going to be kept as we are reverting to being a semi-professional side.”

Ironically, Chunga had struggled that season, with the knee injury that would eventually bring his career to a premature end, and without the services of their talisman, Aalst failed to compete in the top-flight. Chunga returned home the following year and, after protracted battles between Aalst and Dynamos, with the Belgian club insisting that they be paid a fee for the forward, he rejoined the Glamour Boys.

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