AFC Leopards on Tuesday confirmed Andre Casa Mbungo as the 27th Coach that Ingwe has hired since being promoted back to the Kenya Premier League (KPL) in 2009.
Could Mbungo turn out to be the man AFC Leopards have been looking for over the past 10 years? Or will he just like the others?
Here are some of the things you need to know about Ingwe’s new coach.
AFC Leopards offers bold new challenge
Mbungo may have been one of the best coaches in Rwanda but he has never managed a club of Leopards’ stature.
AFC is one of the best supported clubs in Kenya with fans who demand results regardless of your previous achievements. The fans are one of the reasons the club has been changing coaches as their demands must be met if the club is looking to make profits.
It will be a different step up for a man who has only ever coached in Rwanda.
Mbungo loves football to the core
Andre Casa Mbungo was born on January 18, 1968 in Kampala, Uganda. He is a football enthusiast who has never tried any other sport as football was the most accessible sport in his neighbourhood. In an interview with Rwanda’s The New Times Mbungo revealed how in his early years he fell in love with the game.
“I grew up playing street football in my neighborhoods before featuring for my primary and secondary school football teams. Like most kids, my boyhood dream was becoming a celebrated football star,” Mbungo narrated.
Former goalkeeper who retired early
His playing career was shortlived as he only played for 10 years featuring for three different clubs before retiring early to start coaching career in 1994.
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Playing as goalkeeper, Mbungo played for Dynamo FC from 1984 to 1990, Atletico (1990-1992) before switching to Flamingo, where he played for his final two years and helped the team to earn promotion to topflight league from second division. He was also a founding member of the club.
He had done coaching courses during his final season (1993/94) as a player so he immediately ventured into coaching after retiring at 26. Mbungo began working as a youth football coach in different academies in Burundi and Rwanda from where he took a step higher when he was appointed head coach of APR FC junior team from 1998 to 2002.
Rwanda’s history making Cup winner
After a successful tenure at APR FC, Rwandatel offered him a job which he gladly accepted and took charge of the club from 2002 to 2004.
He then joined AS Kigali, who were called Les Citadins at the time, for a period of two years. He later returned to the club to AS Kigali to win them their first Peace Cup title in 2013.
CLUB UPDATE
We have a new coach.
AFC Leopards has appointed Rwandese Andre Casa Mbungo as our new coach on a one and a half year dealAndre replaces Marko Vasiljevic who parted company with the club on Monday.
Welcome to the den Andre.#SportPesa #INGWE pic.twitter.com/I0bto2Ie3A
— AFC Leopards (@AFCLeopards) February 5, 2019
After his first tenure at AS Kigali, the 51 year old joined SC Kiyovu for one season before moving to Police FC in 2007. Mbungo stayed with Police untill 2009 before switching to SEC Academy for three years (2009-2012). He was however hijacked by the law enforcers for a second spell winning the Peace Cup for them.
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Mbungo was then sacked by Police FC in June 2016 following a run of poor results. He then joined Sunrise FC after staying jobless for six months. The AFC boss stayed with Sunrise until August 2017 when he rejoined with SC Kiyovu. He has stayed with Kiyovu until Tuesday, 5th February 2019, when he was confirmed as new Ingwe Coach.
The 51 year old tactician made history in Rwanda as the only coach to ever win two Peace Cup titles with two different clubs. If his 25 year experience in coaching is anything to go by, Mbungo is more likely to make an impact at the den.
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