2011 was a year of change for several North-African and Arabic countries. Among them, Libya went through a civil war which resulted in the fall of Muammar Gaddafi, who governed the country since over forty years.
Arrived in Libya in August 2010 after a season in the South African, former Rennais Felix Katongo lived this Libyan revolution from the inside. Now at the AfCON with his country, Zambia, the midfielder played with Libyan side Al Ittihad, a club from the capital, Tripoli.
«It was really hard for me to cope with the situation in Libya when the war started because I have never lived in a country that has gone to war, he explained to the BBC a few days ago. I could not move out of the flat to go to the gym or shops. The only thing that I was constantly thinking about was how to run away from that country because I feared for my life. »
After a few days of scare, Katongo could finally leave Libya after the Libyan government sent a special plane to evacuate its citizens. Back in his countries, the former Rennais faced scepticism from his fellow-countrymen, who believed he was “finished” at only 27. A period in which he wasn’t in the plans of his national coach, the Italian Dario Bonetti.
After several fruitless trials in Egypt and Israel and an aborted transfer to… Vietnam, Katongo finally decided to return to the Green Buffaloes, the club of his debuts in Zambia. A choice which, added to the return of Frenchman Hervé Renard as a national coach, allowed him to return in the national team for the African Cup of Nations.