Home grown

The entire Zaire World Cup squad played for clubs in their domestic league, with the majority coming from the country's two most dominant teams, Mazembe Lumbumbashi and AS Vita Kinshasa. Although many of the players had attracted interest from European clubs, they were forbidden from playing overseas by the Mobutu government's policy of "authenticity." This policy sought to protect an African identity whereby players could not be exported abroad, but were to be viewed instead as "national treasures."
Zairian teams won the African Cup of Champion Clubs on three occasions during the country's golden era of football (1967-74). Mazambe were champions in both 1967 and '68 (they were also runners-up for the following two years) whilst AS Vita were victorious in 1973.
Remarkably, all of the Zaire squad were under the age of thirty when the Finals began - Mafu Kibonge being the oldest at twenty-nine. Twenty-two year-old Mialo Mwape was the youngest, with the majority of players being in their mid-twenties.
The squad also contained two sets of brothers, all members of the defence: Goalkeeper Mwamba Kazadi and Tshimen Buhanga, and full-backs Ilunga Mwepu and Mwanza Mukombo. "There was a competitive element between us, between those from Lumbumbashi and those from Kinshasa, who had a great rivalry through their clubs, Tout-Puissant and AS Club. But as a national team we'd been together since the beginning of about 1971. One of Vidinic's great strengths was that he had been able to make us like a big family over those four years." (Zaire midfielder, Adelard Mayanga)