DR Congo plays its first ever World Cup knockout match against England on Wednesday but does so without famed superfan Michel Nkuka Mboladinga, more widely known as ‘Lumumba Vea.’
Lumumba Vea has been a presence at DR Congo matches for more than a decade, coming to greater international prominence during the Africa Cup of Nations in December and January. He is an unmissable presence in the crowd, standing statue still, arm raised in a pose and outfit intended to mimic Congolese independence leader and prime minister Patrice Lumumba—assassinated in 1961.
