adminBLANTYRE. — Every country has its version of a football great.
The one who stands head and shoulders above the rest in terms of unparalleled contribution, charisma and sheer brilliance.
In Brazil, they worship Pele, in Zambia Kalusha Bwalya is probably their greatest football son.
Liberia has George Weah.
And, it is no-brainer Roger Milla is Cameroon’s finest.
Kinnah Phiri is Malawi’s answer to the often contentious question of a football great.
No other Malawian has achieved more as a footballer and a coach in the Southern African country’s modest football history.
No footballer has scored more goals for club and country than Kinnah in Malawi.
Ironically, Kinnah’s national team career was shortlived — spanning from just 1974 to 1981.
He was actually nicknamed a Four-Legged Wizard while others simply branded him Electric, summing up his electric pace, surgical scoring precision in front of goal while playing for childhood club Bata Bullets FC (now Nyasa Big Bullets FC) and the national team.
For starters, the greatness of Kinnah as a striker in the 1970s was not confined to Malawi and Africa.
Four decades later, Kinnah’s statistics of the goals he scored remain fiercely competitive and awe-inspiring even on the world stage.
He scored 71 goals in 115 appearances for Malawi.
He is ranked 11th on the list of the world’s top 20 leading scorers behind Indian Sunil Chhetri (72 goals / 115 caps), Bashar Abdullah (Kuwait / 75 goals / 133 caps), Sandor Kocsis (Hungary | 75 goals / 68 caps), Pele | Brazil | 77 goals / 92 caps), Hussein Saeed (Iraq | 78 goals / 137 caps), Godfrey Chitalu (Zambia | 79 goals / 108 caps), Kunishige Kamamoto (Japan | 80 goals / 84 caps), Ferenc Puskas (Hungary & Spain | 84 goals / 89 caps), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal | 99 goals / 164 caps) and Ali Daei (Iran | 109 goals / 149 caps).
Kinnah was probably born to score because even at Bullets, no other player has affected games, single-handedly winning silverware after silverware like the ever smiling man who hails from the Northern Region district of Karonga which borders Tanzania.
Bullets officials spotted this scoring genius in Karonga in 1971 when he was a fresh-faced schoolboy.
“I was born on October 4 1954 in a family of five girls and three boys and I am the first born.
“I was spotted by Bata Bullets then the national team selectors in 1972 just after I had been selected to Chaminade Secondary School. They selected me from a schools’ competition to play for the Malawi schools national team.
“On my debut for the schools’ team, I scored five goals when we beat Botswana 8-0,” Kinnah told PanAfrican Football.
Such a scoring spree made Kinnah indispensable with Bullets management.
Little wonder, Bullets gave their prized asset preferential treatment, allowing him to continue with studies at Chamide Secondary and fly him 800 kilometres to Blantyre to play for the club every weekend.
That was in the early 1970s when flying was a preserve for the elite.
Since that time, no other Malawian player has received such VIP treatment.
“I was the first player, the whole of Malawi, to be flown specifically for games. Bullets wanted me to concentrate on school and our headmaster also didn’t want me to leave.
“So, I would fly to Blantyre on Friday and come back on Monday.
“The sight of planes scared me. It was a strange feeling because I grew up in the village and I could see planes flying over our roof tops.
“I never imagined that I would fly one day and when I did, I was scared and excited at the same time.”
Such investment in Kinnah was worth every penny.
Kinnah combined dribbling with running at panasonic speed, often charging at defenders and beating them for pace and intelligent runs.
And when it came to scoring, it was a typical case of: one chance, one goal.
He attributed his athleticism to exposure to athletics.
He was a top athlete who won gold medals in short distance races in school before he specialised in football.
Kinnah, without any apology, said he was in his generation, probably the best striker in the entire East Africa and second best after only Godfrey Chitalu of Zambia in Southern Africa.
In those days, Southern African teams used to compete in East Africa tournaments.
“I was a dribbler but Chitalu was not a dribbler. Chitalu was a runner but I was a dribbler and a runner.
“I think Chitalu scored more goals than me in his career while playing for the national team because on the world’s list of scorers, Chitalu is above me,” Kinnah said.
When it came to defenders, Kinnah struggles to remember the toughest he encountered on the fields of Malawi.
He does not even mention compatriot Jack Chamangwana, a tough and intelligent defender, who went on to captain and coach Kaizer Chiefs in South Africa in the mid 1980s.
“It (the toughest) probably has to be Dick Chama from Zambia. Zambia had two defenders; number four and five.
“They had Dick Chama and Jackson Makwaza but Dick was playing as a sweeper like Jack Chamangwana (now deceased).
“I can’t remember having met Stephen Keshi (Nigeria’s great defender), but I played against Dick Chama several times. Chama was very tough. However, I could still squeeze in a goal or two,” Kinnah said.
Kinnah helped Malawi to reach the final of the East and Central Senior Challenge Cup (now Cecafa) in 1975 before going to win it 1978 and 79.
He was simply unplayable on his day and he claimed that he would sleep on an empty stomach whenever he failed to score. — Panfricanfootball.com
Online Reporter