TRESOR Kandol, the cousin of Lomana Lua Lua, the former darling of Layer Road, could lead Millwall's front-line at the Community Stadium this evening.

Carl Marston

By Carl Marston

TRESOR Kandol, the cousin of Lomana Lua Lua, the former darling of Layer Road, could lead Millwall's front-line at the Community Stadium this evening.

Kandol was ineligible for last Saturday's terrific 3-1 home win over Leeds United - he is currently on loan from Elland Road - but he is set to return against Colchester, a club where he had an unsuccessful trial a few seasons ago.

But what of his more famous cousin, Lua Lua? What has happened to the gifted striker who used to thrill U's fans, before his glamorous £2.25m move to Newcastle?

Now aged 27, Lua Lua has suffered many highs and lows, in both his footballing career and personal life, since his departure from Layer Road eight years ago.

It was easy to track his progress in the Premier League, with both Newcastle and then Portsmouth, but he left England during the summer of 2007 to join Greek side Olympiakos for a £2.8m fee.

Nine years earlier, it was Colchester who took the gamble to sign up Lua Lua, having spotted him playing for Leyton College's sixth form team. It was probably the best decision the U's ever made.

Lua Lua signed a three-year contract with Olympiakos, but he only lasted a year, despite starting impressively with a brace of goals in his second appearance in a 6-2 win over rivals OFI Crete.

The Congalese striker was dogged by injury during the second half of the season, which caused him to miss both Champions League fixtures against Chelsea. He was later placed on the transfer list.

Over the summer, Lua Lua signed a one-year deal with Doha-based Al-Arabi, who are the biggest and most successful club in Qatar. That is where he remains.

Away from football, he had to cope with the death of one of his sons from a mystery illness (aged just 18 months), although he was not told of this news for two weeks because it was feared it would affect his form in the African Cup of Nations.

On a more positive note, he set up the LuaLua Foundation in 2006 to build a hostel, sports and education complex in Kinshasa for orphaned children in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Colchester supporters will best remember him for his dazzling skills and his trademark goal-celebration somersaults. His cousin Kandol also performs acrobatics after scoring a goal - though hopefully his feet will remain firmly on the ground tonight!