While Zambia's 2012 triumph at the African Cup of Nations may seem like one of the most recent feats in the competition, the Chipolopolo's epic campaign was marked by the Clifford Mulenga affair. The midfielder had a few too many drinks with some of his team-mates, without the staff's approval, and was excluded from the squad, meaning he will not be crowned African champion.
"Unfortunately for me, I was unable to control my emotions that night." Years later, Clifford Mulenga makes his mea-culpa.Although Zambia won the AFCON 2012, co-hosted by Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, the midfielder was not on the podium with the Chipolopolo squad when they lifted the trophy, which they won on penalties against Côte d'Ivoire. Only 22 players received their medals instead of 23, as a few days earlier Mulenga had been excluded from the squad for "disciplinary reasons", without having played a single match.
Excluded from the competition without playing a single minute
The reason? The man crowned Best Young African Player at the 2007 CAF Awards had, along with four other team-mates, broken the curfew imposed by the Zambian staff to go out on the town and celebrate the victory over Equatorial Guinea on the final day of the group phase, and the team's qualification for the quarter-finals. A night out that the little group paid for dearly the next day, when Hervé Renard and his staff discovered that some of the players had gone out of control.
"They said I broke curfew to go out drinking. Yes, I did.It was after a match we'd just won and qualified for the quarter-finals. The guys I went out with wanted to have a beer to celebrate. Five of us went out. We didn't get permission from anyone, but the captain knew we were going out. Since he didn't say anything, it was as if he was giving us permission. Despite the desire to celebrate qualification, in retrospect it wasn't the right time to go out," recalled Clifford Mulenga on Kenndy Gondwe's Studio Ken show.
Renard's outburst
In addition to the financial penalties, the gang were forced to apologize to the entire group.They all did, except Clifford Mulenga. When he refused, he was excluded from the squad for the rest of the competition. At the time, he must have had no idea that his team-mates would go on to beat the odds and be crowned African champions. Continuing with his confessions, he goes on to explain his meeting with Hervé Renard after that nocturnal escapade."The next day, I showed up for breakfast as usual. Two of the guys I went out with weren't there. They were probably too drunk or had girls in their rooms. I was with Hichani Himonde. The coach came to see us and things got heated.He slapped Hichani. I almost got punched, but in the end it was my phone that was thrown against the wall", he details, before ironizing: "I'm going to remind him that he owes me a phone."
Alcohol addiction and a bad reputation despite his talent
Since then, Mulenga has played in a number of leagues, notably in South Africa, without ever fully realizing his talent. This was due to his temperament, which was considered to be difficult, with a number of misbehaviours and an addiction to alcohol which he finally admitted to years later. At one point, he attracted the attention of Real Madrid, but the Merengues took no further action, no doubt dampened by the rumours about him.Other European clubs also looked at his profile, but on each occasion negotiations were unsuccessful.
Now 36, Clifford Mulenga is a young retiree. The midfielder has decided to hang up his boots in August 2023 and turn the page, not without a little disappointment over the African Championship title he was denied. A situation he felt was an injustice."I think it's because of my past in the national team that I was excluded and not the others. I was the scapegoat," he confides, still bitter about the episode.
