EVEN months after his elder brother Enock Mwepu was forced to hang his boots aged 24 due to a hereditary heart condition, youngster Francisco Mwepu has written his name in the history book of Zambian football by becoming the first ever Zambian to feature in the Spanish La Liga.
Young Mwepu who features for Cadiz CF came on as a 70th minute substitute for the Spanish outfit fifth placed Villarreal at the Estadio de la Ceramica in a round 36 encounter played on Wednesday night.
Mwepu who has made a number of appearances at Under-17 and U-20 national teams could however not stop Cadiz from suffering a 2-0 defeat which increased their chances of demotion from Laliga.
“I’m very happy to play my first game in La liga despite luck not being on our side. The loss pains us but we just have to believe in ourselves and play Celta at home it is very possible that we can win,” Mwepu said after the final whistle at Ceramica. The former Zambia Under-20 striker managed four accurate passes, 100 percent pass accuracy in the 20 minutes he was on the pitch.
The 23-year-old Chambishi-bred player has engraved his name in the history books thanks to Cadiz head gaffer Theo Bongondo because no Zambian has ever featured in a Spanish topflight match hence.
Cadiz remain outside the relegation zone in 16th position despite the loss with 38 points in 36 matches.
Meanwhile, Chipolopolo striker Fashion Sakala Junior scored his 10th league goal of the season for Glasgow Rangers who conceded a late equaliser to draw 2-2 at home to Hearts in a Scottish Premiership encounter played at Ibrox Stadium.
Sakala grabbed the second goal of the night for Rangers who had to come from behind thanks to Todd Cantwell’s 45th minute equaliser after Lawrence Shankland gave the visitors the lead two minutes after kick off.
Late in the game when Rangers thought they would collect maximum points, 18-year-old Garang Kuol danced inside the penalty box and latched on to a deflection to net against Allan McGregor in his final Ibrox game. Sakala’s latest strike propels his goal tally in the Scottish top flight to 20 goals after he scored 10 goals in his debut season with the Scottish giants.
