Yaoundé: Cameroon ;
Emmanuel Jérôme Kundé, the composed centre-back whose ice cool penalties twice crowned Cameroon champions of Africa and carried the Indomitable Lions to within touching distance of a FIFA World Cup semi-final, died Thursday night in Yaoundé. He was 68.
Family members said Kundé had battled a longstanding cardiac ailment. An autopsy investigation is pending.
A Life Forged in Football
Born 15 July 1956 in the forest village of Ndom (Centre Region of Cameroon), Kundé was raised by a primary-school teacher father and a chocolate-seller mother who insisted he finish homework before going any football training. At 17 he moved to the capital to join Mbankomo Club, catching the eye of Canon Yaoundé scouts with a blend of timing and restraint rare on the region’s dusty pitches.
Canon Yaoundé (1976-88, 1992-93) – Three league titles, two CAF Champions Cups.
Stade de Reims & RC Lens (France, 1988-1991) – Among the first Cameroonian defenders to earn a regular Ligue 1 starting role.
National team (1979-92) – 102 caps, 17 goals. Captained side 1985-89.
It was on 27 March 1988 in Rabat that Kundé’s legend crystallised: with the AFCON final score-less, he side-footed an 84th-minute penalty beyond Nigerian keeper Peter Rufai. Two years later in Naples, his equaliser against England momentarily placed an African nation ahead in a World Cup quarter-final for the first time.
Beyond the Pitch
Retiring in 1994, Kundé gained a UEFA “A” coaching licence and returned home to steer Canon Yaoundé out of financial crisis, later guiding US Bitam to a Gabonese Cup. He founded Académie Kundé, a free after-school programme that paired tutoring with football drills. Some 20 graduates now play professionally, including current Lions full-back Nouhou Tolo.
Kundé married pharmacist Thérèse Ngono in 1983 whom they have four children: Carine, Eloi, Stéphane and Sandrine and five grandchildren. Friends recall his Friday routine: morning Mass, followed by three quiet hours fishing on the Mfoundi River.
Tributes
Samuel Eto’o, FECAFOOT president in his tribute said “He made pressure look like a children’s game.”
Rigobert Song who is the former Cameron national coach said “My armband still feels borrowed from him.”
Gary Lineker through his Twitter handles has paid his tribute terming the legacy of Emmanuel as “Facing his penalties was like watching a librarian shelve a book
silent and inevitable.”
African Union Sports Council has Announced 17 May will henceforth be Kundé Day, featuring youth clinics across the continent.
Farewell Arrangements
A public viewing is scheduled for Tuesday, 20 May, at Yaoundé’s Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium . A state-supported funeral Mass will follow on Wednesday, 21 May, before burial in his hometown of Ndom.
Domestic league matches this weekend will pause at the 17-minute mark honouring his 17 international goals—for a minute’s applause, not silence, “because Kundé believed stadiums should never go quiet,” FECAFOOT said.
Emmanuel Kundé leaves the game as he played it: composed, generous, impossible to ignore. Cameroon’s nets may one day fray, but the memory of the defender who kept them safe and occasionally rippled the ones at the other end will endure.
