Education
Born in Mufulira, Bwalya attended Kantanshi Secondary school and began his career at hometown club Butondo Western Tigers.
Born in Mufulira, Bwalya attended Kantanshi Secondary school and began his career at hometown club Butondo Western Tigers.
He played for the Zambian national team and represented the country at the Olympics. Domestic career
In 1986 he joined Mufulira Wanderers, winning Football player of the Year in his first season at the club At the end of the season he signed for Swiss club Football Club Fribourg.
He later played for Football Club Zürich, Football Club Bulle, South Carolina Kriens and Football Club Sion.
International career
Bwalya made his debut for Zambia in April 1987 in an All Africa Games qualifier against Malawi in Lusaka and was part of the Zambian team that qualified to the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games. After slipping past a defender, Bwalya hit a wonderful shot from nearly 35 yards that swerved and dipped just under the crossbar.
In the game against West Germany which Zambia lost 4-0, Bwalya got injured and would not feature for Zambia for the next 4 years. Bwalya was part of the team that reached the final of 1994 CAN in Tunisia and was stand in captain in Kalusha"s absence as the team also qualified to the 1996 CAN in South Africa where they lost to Tunisia in the Semi-finals.
In 1997, Zambia drew a World Cup qualifier with South Africa 0-0 at Independence Stadium in Lusaka amid reports of a falling out between Bwalya and Kalusha Bwalya, with Bwalya unhappy with the latter"s influence on team selection.
Later that year, Bwalya as captain led Zambia and lifted the inaugural COSAFA Castle Cup. When new coach German Burkhard Ziese took over the reins of the national team in late 1997, he accused Bwalya of having the wrong attitude by not attending a team meeting and dropped him from the team travelling to CAN 1998 where Zambia were knocked out in the group stages.
He scored a goal in Zambia"s 4-0 win against Italy on their way to becoming the first African team to reach the quarter-finals of the tournament. Upon his recovery, Bwalya regained his form and won back his place in the national team and was to join up with the team for the Senegal game only to learn that the plane carrying the team had plunged into the sea in the Gabon disaster. When a new team was assembled it was Bwalya and Kalusha that led the team, both of them scoring in a match against Morocco with Bwalya getting the winning goal with a 25-metre thunderbolt in 2-1 win. At the 1996 Cup of Nations in South Africa, Bwalya was part of a Zambian team which won the bronze medal, scoring 15 goals in the process and demolishing Egypt 3-1 in a come from behind quarter-final victory.
