Former Chipolopolo midfielder, Clifford Mulenga, will join three other African football legends, including John Paintsil of Ghana, Siaka Tiene of Ivory Coast, and Nouredinne Bounaas of Algeria, as part of CAF’s team of TV commentators for the 2023 Algeria African Nations Championship, which will begin on January 13.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the Confederation of African Football-CAF said they have “decided to introduce new elements to improve the quality of the product. For the first time, CAF will have on-site commentators accompanied by analysts, most of whom are legends of African football.”
Clifford has since disclosed to Bolanews in an exclusive interview that he is happy with the appointment and looks forward to representing the country well.
“I am super excited and humbled about the appointment from CAF,” he said. “I want to use this as a stepping stone for bigger events to come, and I hope this is the first of many appointments for former Zambian legends and players. At least we have representation from Zambia, which is good for the country. I’m looking forward to going there and doing my best.”
As the Zambian Super League continues, his club, Forest Rangers, will miss his services. The 2007 CAF Young African Footballer of the Year acknowledges this, but is convinced that the team has the talent to triumph without him.
“I will miss Forest Rangers football club. Fortunately, I leave the club knowing that there is enough depth in the team, we have good quality and good additions, I believe in the boys, and I know they will carry on doing the job without me, and we have a very good coach (Ian Bakala) who is doing a very good job,” said Mulenga.
“I will miss the team but am not worried about how they perform because I know they are going to fight and do well.”
The CHAN tournament will run from 13th January to February 4th, 2023 with 18 teams participating in the tournament, and Mulenga is expected to be away from Rangers who are currently second in the league standings with 30 points during that period.
He has so far been directly involved in four goals for Rangers this season, having scored two goals and contributed one assist.
