Jacob Mulenga

Jacob Mulenga (born 12 February 1984) is a Zambian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Dutch Eerste Divisie club Go Ahead Eagles.

Jacob Mulenga
Mulenga with Utrecht in 2010
Personal information
Date of birth (1984-02-12) 12 February 1984
Place of birth Kitwe, Zambia
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Forward
Club information
Current team
 Go Ahead Eagles
Number 27
Youth career
2000–2002 Afrisport
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2002–2004 Afrisport 44 (32)
2004–2009 Châteauroux 109 (27)
2007–2008 → Strasbourg (loan) 22 (1)
2009–2014 Utrecht 93 (37)
2014–2015 Adana Demirspor 15 (8)
2015–2017 Shijiazhuang Ever Bright 72 (27)
2018–2019 Liaoning Hongyun 47 (22)
2020– Go Ahead Eagles 12 (4)
National team‡
2004– Zambia 41 (9)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 26 January 2021
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 13:34, 6 May 2020 (UTC)

Mulenga started his footballing career at age 18 with hometown club Afrisport, before moving to Châteauroux in 2004. Five years later, he moved to FC Utrecht where he made his definitive breakthrough but also suffered two serious knee injuries. After successful stints in Turkey and China, Mulenga returned to the Netherlands in 2020 where he signed for Go Ahead Eagles.

Between 2004 and 2014, he made 41 appearances, in which he scored 9 goals, for the Zambia national team.[1]

Club career

Mulenga started his career with the Zambian third-tier club Afrisport from his hometown of Kitwe at a relatively late age – he only started playing organised football as an 18-year old.[2] With Afrisport whom he reached promotion in the 2003 season. In December 2003, he trialled together with fellow countryman Collins Mbesuma at French club Stade Rennais.[2] However, both were unable to gain a contract, after which Mulenga returned to Afrisport. He had a strong season there, including four goals during the first three matches.[3] In the summer of 2004, he returned to France for a trial period at Bastia alongside Billy Mwanza.[2] After the Corsican club did not offer him a contract, LB Châteauroux showed interest in him and he was subsequently signed on a four-year contract.[2][4] Mulenga thus became the second Zambian in the French professional divisions, after Andrew Tembo who played for Marseille in 1994.[5]

In his Ligue 2 debut on 24 August 2004, Mulenga scored both goals in a 2–0 win over Chamois Niortais. In the ensuing period, however, he suffered a large number of injuries, limiting his appearances in the league that year to 15.[6] In the two seasons that followed, he played more often, but his goalscoring stagnated. In August 2007, he was sent on a one-season loan to Ligue 1 club RC Strasbourg.[7] After this period the Zambian returned to Châteauroux.

In late May 2009, the club announced that Mulenga had been signed by Dutch Eredivisie club FC Utrecht, who, after a disappointing season, had been looking for a striker and eventually signed him on a three-year contract.[8] On 31 October 2010, in a match against ADO Den Haag, he tore his right cruciate ligament and was sidelined for the entire 2010–11 season.[9] On 14 August 2011, Mulenga made his comeback and marked this by turning a 0–2 deficit against De Graafschap into a 2–2 final result after scoring two goals. In a match against Ajax on 9 November, however, he tore his left cruciate ligament and was sidelined for eight months.[10]

In Agust 2014, Mulenga signed with Turkish club Adana Demirspor,[11] before moving to Chinese football six months later.[12] He moved from Shijiazhuang Ever Bright to Liaoning Hongyun in January 2018, where he, in October 2018, became team captain. In February 2020, he signed a contract extension until the end of 2020.[13] In April 2020, it was announced that Mulenga was suing his club, after not receiving his salary throughout the 2019 season.[14][15] In May 2020, Liaoning Hongyun went bankrupt and Mulenga was left without a club. In October 2020, he joined Dutch second-tier Eerste Divisie club Go Ahead Eagles as a free agent.[16] He immediately scored in his debut on 17 October, after coming on as a substitute in the 69th minute against FC Eindhoven, as Go Ahead won 3–0.[17]

International career

Mulenga progressed through several national Zambian youth teams and was called up to the senior team in a match against Sudan in May 2004, at the age of twenty, because of his good performances in the second division of Zambia. In the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, he scored against Togo in the first match of the group stage. However, the third place in the standings was not enough for Zambia to qualify for the World Cup. The country did however manage to qualify for the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations at the expense of the DR Congo and Mali. Due to an injury, Mulenga did receive any caps during this tournament, but two years later he was part of the team's starting eleven during the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, and scored the 2–0 goal in a 3–0 win over Sudan. Zambia did not advance from the group stage in this tournament. Mulenga also had to cancel due to an injury for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.[2][18]

Career statistics

International goals
Scores and results list Zambia's goal tally first.
NoDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.22 January 2008Baba Yara Stadium, Kumasi, Ghana Sudan2–03–02008 Africa Cup of Nations
2.13 January 2010Tundavala National Stadium, Lubango, Angola Tunisia1–01–12010 Africa Cup of Nations
3.17 January 2010Tundavala National Stadium, Lubango, Angola Cameroon1–02–32010 Africa Cup of Nations
4.8 June 2013Levy Mwanawasa Stadium, Ndola, Zambia Lesotho1–04–02014 FIFA World Cup qualification
5.3–0
6.15 June 2013Levy Mwanawasa Stadium, Ndola, Zambia Sudan1–01–12014 FIFA World Cup qualification

Personal life

Mulenga is a Christian.[18]

References
  1. Jacob Mulenga at National-Football-Teams.com
  2. Weir, Stuart (March 2013). "Stuart Weir talks to Jacob Mulenga, Shijiazhuang Ever Bright and Zambia (Interview recorded March 2013)". planetsportfootballafrica.com. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  3. Mukena, Walliey (17 April 2020). "Zambia' Most Potent Combinations In Modern Times". Zedsoccer. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  4. "Châteauroux chance for Mulenga". UEFA. 24 August 2004. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  5. Gondwe, Kennedy (18 August 2005). "Kalaba aiming high in France". BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  6. "J. Mulenga - Profile". int.soccerway.com. Perform Group. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  7. "Strasbourg sign Mulenga on loan". BBC Sport. 24 August 2007. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  8. "Van Wolfswinkel en Mulenga naar FC Utrecht". voetbalprimeur.nl (in Dutch). 29 May 2009. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  9. "Einde seizoen voor Mulenga". NU.nl (in Dutch). 3 November 2010. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  10. "Ongelukkige Mulenga scheurt opnieuw kruisband". Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). 9 November 2011. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  11. "Mulenga Adana Demirspor'da". NTV Spor (in Turkish). 14 August 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  12. Agranum, Ritz (13 April 2016). "Home > Sports Football News: Shijiazhuang Ever Bright of the Chinese Super League Extends Jacob Mulenga's Contract". China Topix. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  13. Kalito, Abraham (21 February 2019). "Jacob Mulenga extends Liaoning FC contract". News Diggers. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  14. Church, Michael (5 April 2020). "Soccer-China's once-dominant Liaoning face closure as players go unpaid". Reuters. Retrieved 30 November 2020. "For the whole of 2019 I haven’t received a salary from them," Zambian Jacob Mulenga, who joined Liaoning at the start of 2018, told Reuters by telephone from the Netherlands.
  15. King, Tom (6 April 2020). "Liaoning FC on brink of shutting down". SportBusiness. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  16. Arentsen, Dennis (8 October 2020). "Go Ahead Eagles presenteert 36-jarige Mulenga in bejaardentehuis". Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  17. "Aanvaller Mulenga scoort bij debuut voor winnend Go Ahead". RTL Nieuws (in Dutch). 17 October 2020. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  18. Honeycutt, Brett (12 March 2014). "Closeup — Jacob Mulenga". Sports Spectrum. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
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