Quick Facts
CancerBiography
Théophile Abega Mbida nicknamed Doctor (9 July 1954 – 15 November 2012) was a Cameroonian football player and politician. Playing as a midfielder he was part of the Cameroon national football team, playing all three matches at the 1982 FIFA World Cup and captaining the side to their first African Nations Cup victory in 1984, where he scored a goal in the final. He was nicknamed "The Doctor" in tribute to his footballing intelligence.
Club career
Abega played club football for Canon Yaoundé where he won the 1978 African Cup of Champions Clubs, 1980 African Cup of Champions Clubs and 1979 African Cup Winners' Cup titles as well as four Cameroonian championships and five Cameroonian Cups. Later in his career, he moved to France to play for Toulouse FC before finishing in Switzerland with Vevey.
International career
Following a collision with Zambian goalkeeper Efford Chabala at the 1986 African Cup of Nations Abega retired from football in 1987. Abega then went into politics, becoming the mayor of the sixth arrondissement of Yaoundé.
In 2006, he was selected by CAF as one of the best 200 African football players of the last 50 years.
Death
Abega died of cardiac arrest at Yaoundé General Hospital, Yaoundé, Cameroon on 15 November 2012.