Power Dynamos goalkeeper Lawrence Mulenga has been nominated for Men’s Goalkeeper of the Year at the inaugural 2023 Cosafa Awards, with the winner to be announced on April 19, 2024, in Durban.
The 25-year-old has been nominated alongside Namibia’s Chippa United goalkeeper, Lloyd Kazapua, and South Africa and Mamelodi Sundowns’ Ronwen Williams.
The players were chosen based on their performances for club and country from January 1 to December 31, 2023.
Mulenga helped Power Dynamos win the Zambian Super League for the seventh time last season, keeping 21 cleansheets and qualifying Zambia back to the Africa Cup of Nations.
Reacting to his nomination, he told BolaNews that he did not expect to be nominated in this category.
“Believe me, it’s an honour to be nominated alongside those great goalkeepers. I never saw that one coming; it can only be God. I am grateful,” he said.
He urged other goalkeepers: “Work hard every day and never stop learning; that’s one way of improving.
“Put in 100% in every game; you might find yourself at the top.”
Mulenga has kept 9 clean sheets out of 17 games this season.
The former Kabwe Warriors keeper helped his team, Power Dynamos, win their first league title in 12 years, conceding only 19 goals in 34 matches.
During the 2023 AFCON, he played three matches without keeping a clean sheet.
He will compete with top contender Williams, who sent Bafana Bafana to the 2023 AFCON semifinals with penalty heroics against Cape Verde in the quarterfinals.
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