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COSAFA PLAYER PROFILE – CLIFFORD MULENGA (ZAMBIA)
Zambian international Clifford Mulenga has already achieved much in his 21 years.
Voted CAF Young Player of the Year in 2008, he finished joint top-scorer at the 2007 African Youth Championships, helping Zambia to impressive wins over Cameroon and Egypt as they went on to collect fourth-place.
He was a star performer at the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Canada later that year, where he would catch the eye of a number of European clubs, scoring in the 2-0 win over Uruguay.
But while moves to Europe have not yet materialised, he has been a consist performer in the South African Premiership, where he is currently on loan at Thanda Royal Zulu from Bidvest Wits.
And with his manager already admitting that he and his client are in talks with Soweto giants Orlando Pirates for next season, the left-winger’s career is about to get a lot more high-profile.
Mulenga was just 16 when he debuted for the Zambian Under-20 side, and a year later won his first senior cap against Botswana. His early rise to prominence has even sparked comparisons with Zambia’s greatest-ever player, Kalusha Bwalya.
His exploits helped Zambia win the COSAFA Under-20 title in 2003, when he scored twice in the final as the side beat Malawi 4-0, and he played a key role for the senior side in the 2005 COSAFA Cup.
He held his nerve to score a crucial penalty in the semifinal against South Africa as Zambia went on to triumph 9-9 in the shoot-out and also played a part in the final as Chipolopolo went down 1-0 to Zimbabwe.
One thing is for certain, he is one of the most promising players to come out of the region in many years – it is now up to him to fulfil his potential.
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