Trésor Lomana LuaLua (; born 28 December 1980) is a Congolese former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is currently the attacking coach for Spalding United.
LuaLua was born in Kinshasa, but moved to England at a young age. After impressing in a college football match, he signed for Colchester United. There he scored a total of 21 goals in 68 appearances, which prompted Newcastle United to sign him. However, the competition for places meant he was less of a regular in the first team, and after four seasons and 88 appearances he transferred to Portsmouth, where he had previously been on loan for three months from Newcastle. He remained there for three seasons, but his spell was marred by disciplinary problems and malaria. After leaving Portsmouth, he moved teams frequently, representing sides in Greece, Qatar, Cyprus and Turkey, in addition to a brief return to English football at Blackpool. LuaLua received his first of 31 international caps in 2002, and scored seven goals in an eleven-year international career. He represented his national team at four Africa Cup of Nations tournaments.
LuaLua is also known for setting up the LuaLua Foundation, which provides care for orphans in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and for being a patron for the Haslar Visitors Group. His brother Kazenga, and cousins Trésor Kandol and Yannick Bolasie, all became footballers as well.
Early life LuaLua was born Trésor Lua Lua Lomana – Lua Lua, his grandfather's given name, was passed to him and his brother Kazenga – in Kinshasa, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo), in 1980, but moved to England as a young boy in 1989. His family settled in Forest Gate in London; there, he attended Forest Gate Community School and started to play football at the age of 16, while also being involved in gymnastics. His activity in gymnastics was the base of his trademark goal celebration, seven back flips and a backward somersault. LuaLua represented his school at football after he was spotted kicking a tennis ball around in the playground. He was playing for Leyton Sixth Form College, where he studied performing arts, when he was spotted at the age of 17 by second division side, Colchester United. Geoff Harrop, a scout for Colchester College's football team, was impressed by LuaLua's performance, "He was taking on the whole team by the end of the game and it wasn't hard to pick him out among 22 young 17-year-olds." Harrop invited the striker for a trial at Colchester United and he was signed by the club.
His brother, Kazenga LuaLua, is also a professional footballer, and two of his cousins also play professionally, Yannick Bolasie and Trésor Kandol.
Club career
Colchester United LuaLua joined Colchester United in September 1998. Initially, he struggled to adapt and he preferred going to nightclubs over playing for Colchester, Harrop says, "It took a lot of hard work by the staff at Colchester. Micky Cook, the director of youth, had to spend endless hours with him and [manager] Steve Wignall and then [the next manager] Steve Whitton had to spend a lot of time with him talking him through the tactical side of the game and what his role was within the team". LuaLua scored within four minutes of his debut where he appeared as a substitute in a 3–1 defeat to Chesterfield. In two seasons, he made 68 league and cup appearances for Colchester, 44 starts and 24 substitute appearances, scoring a total of 21 goals.
His performances attracted the attention of several Premiership clubs, and despite manager Steve Whitton's denial that LuaLua was for sale LuaLua joined Newcastle United in September 2000 for a fee of £2.25 million. An earlier offer by Newcastle of £300,000 for LuaLua made by former manager, Ruud Gullit, had been rejected, but the much increased bid offered financial security and assistance towards a new ground and was one that Colchester felt they could not turn down.
Newcastle United
LuaLua had been brought to the attention of Newcastle manager, Bobby Robson, by Mick Wadsworth, assistant-manager at Newcastle United, who was a former manager of Colchester. Robson watched LuaLua before deciding to negotiate the transfer, and said, "I see [LuaLua] as a special talent. He has to learn how to play with the other players but he's a special new talent. He has to be nursed and cherished and taught. But we are buying long-term a very promising talent, a very promising player." LuaLua signed a five-year contract with the club. He made his first-team debut in a 1–0 home defeat to Charlton Athletic in September 2000 and made 23 league and cup appearances for Newcastle in the 2000–01 season without scoring. He scored twice in Newcastle's Intertoto Cup campaign at the beginning of the 2001–02 season but his first Premiership goal did not come until April 2002, when he scored a last-minute winner in a 3–2 away win against Derby County. He scored a further two goals in the remaining four games of the season. LuaLua's goalscoring form continued into the beginning of the 2002–03 season when he scored three goals in his first four games, but tougher competition for a first-team place meant that LuaLua made only 22 appearances throughout that season. In January 2003, LuaLua had urged Robson to rotate the squad, saying, "I think I deserve a chance now, as do many of the lads on the fringes of the team. Although some people might have the idea that those of us not in the team like sitting on the bench and getting paid good money, nothing could be further from the truth. I'm not in this for the money, I want to play for the first team and show what I can do on a regular basis." LuaLua also spent much of the beginning of the 2003–04 season on the bench and in November 2003, complained about his lack of first-team football and indicated that he would consider leaving Newcastle. In the Newcastle Chronicle, Robson responded, saying he would not take advice from a player about how to manage the side: "How dare he say this? I run this football club... LuaLua has been a pretty poor professional about all this. What he should do is keep his mouth shut and get out there and do what he is paid for." In the end, he made 88 league and cup appearances for Newcastle, scoring nine goals, having started 21 games and made 67 appearances as a substitute.
Portsmouth In February 2004, after returning from the 2004 African Cup of Nations, he joined Portsmouth on a three-month loan deal with a view to a permanent deal at the end of the season. LuaLua scored on his debut for Portsmouth in a 4–3 away defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in February 2004. During this loan spell he scored in the 89th minute in a 1–1 draw for Portsmouth against parent club Newcastle. The result lifted Portsmouth out of the bottom three of the Premiership. This also led to a change in legislation with the FA introducing standard rules meaning a player on loan could not play against their parent club. He scored four goals in 15 appearances for Portsmouth as they finished in mid-table in their debut season in the Premiership. Manager Harry Redknapp was sufficiently impressed with LuaLua's performances that when his loan spell ended at the end of the 2003–04 season, he signed LuaLua permanently at a cost of £1.75 million.
LuaLua made 26 league and cup appearances, scoring six goals, including two against local rivals Southampton, in the 2004–05 season. The season was marred by a groin injury at the beginning and a hamstring injury in May 2005. Disciplinary problems led to charges by the Football Association of abusive behaviour in December 2004 and improper conduct after he was sent off against Blackburn Rovers in January 2005, for which he received an extra one-match ban and a fine of £5,000 in addition to a three-match ban for the dismissal.
He made 26 appearances in the 2005–06 season, scoring seven goals, but missed several games in the autumn after contracting malaria on a visit to Africa to play for DR Congo. He also missed several games due to international duty at the 2006 African Cup of Nations and missed games in April 2006 after damaging his foot while doing his acrobatic goal celebration during a game against Arsenal. His disciplinary problems continued when he was warned by the Football Association over his future conduct; this came after he admitted a charge of improper conduct in relation to comments made about referee Uriah Rennie after a 3–1 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur in December. LuaLua signed a new three-year contract in July 2006; it was set to keep him at Portsmouth until 2009.
An ankle injury suffered in a pre-season friendly led to LuaLua missing the beginning of the 2006–07 season. He struggled to break back into the first-team, making only eight starts out of 24 appearances, and scored only two goals in that season. Redknapp warned him that he needed to "...start performing" and that he had to "...start producing next season". He joined Greek club Olympiacos in August 2007 and Redknapp admitted that, "Lua wants to move on... I've no doubt he'll go away and be a great player for Olympiacos. He wants a change, he wants to play in a role behind the strikers and he wants to move abroad. He will get to play in the Champions League by moving to Greece. He has been a top Premier League player and he'll be a top player for them."
Olympiacos
On 12 August 2007, LuaLua signed a three-year contract with Olympiacos for an estimated fee of £2.8 million (€4.1 million). He made his league debut on 2 September, in a 0–0 draw against Panathinaikos. His Champions League debut came on 18 September in a 1–1 draw against Lazio. LuaLua scored his first two goals on 23 September in a 6–2 win over OFI.
On 16 January 2008, LuaLua opened the scoring with a 30-yard volley in the Greek Cup fifth round, which saw Olympiacos progress to the quarter-finals in a 4–0 win against Panathinaikos. LuaLua missed both the knockout stages against Chelsea, having suffered from ankle injuries and a dislocated shoulder, the latter of which he received in a 1–1 draw against Asteras Tripolis. As a result, he missed most of the season, but returned on 20 April 2008 to help Olympiacos win their fourth Super League Greece title, beating Iraklis 3–1. Before the 2008 Greek Cup Final on 17 May, LuaLua fell out of favour and was deemed surplus to requirements. In total, he made 30 appearances for Olympiacos, scoring six goals.
Al-Arabi Following his injury spell at Olympiacos, LuaLua joined Qatari based club Al-Arabi on a one-year contract in July 2008. On 30 October, Al-Arabi won the Sheikh Jassim Cup, beating Al-Rayyan Club 3–0 in the final with LuaLua scoring one goal in the seventh minute. In the 21st week of the 2008–09 season, on 20 February 2009, LuaLua scored his first league goal for the club in a 4–2 defeat to Al-Khor. His only other goal for that season came in a 1–0 win over Al-Kharitiyath on 16 April.
Return to Olympiacos During December 2009, LuaLua left Al-Arabi by mutual consent and rejoined Olympiakos on a six-month contract with an option for the club to extend the contract for two years. LuaLua scored the first goals of his second spell with a brace against Asteras Tripolis.
Omonia LuaLua signed a two-year contract for an undisclosed fee with Omonia in July 2010, reuniting with Takis Lemonis for the second time since Olympiakos in 2008. He scored his first goal on his league debut on 18 September 2010 in a 4–0 win against Alki Larnaca, coming on as a substitute for Georgios Efrem. On 18 May 2011, LuaLua won the Cypriot Cup with Omonia after winning 4–3 on penalties against Apollon Limassol.
Return to England In September 2011, after his release by Omonia, LuaLua trained with League One club Hartlepool United, where he linked up with former Newcastle United assistant-manager Mick Wadsworth. He was then offered a contract by Blackpool, a level above in the Championship, which he signed on 13 October.
Turkey