LUSAKA — Jacob Mulenga said doctors’ advice not to play on artificial pitches forced him to withdraw from Zambia’s trip to Lesotho.
MTNFootball.com
Mulenga told MTNFootball.com that there were no personal reasons for his decision to pull out of the 2014 World Cup qualifier after featuring for his Dutch club FC Utrecht on Sunday in their 2-1 away loss to Feyenoord.
Zambia will play Lesotho on an artificial turf on March 24 in the two sides’ Brazil 2014 Fifa World Cup Group D qualifier in Maseru.
The Utrecht striker withdrew from the team last week on medical grounds and was replaced by Romania-based forward Fwayo Tembo.
“I am not coming because of the artificial field in Maseru and everything between me and Herve Renard is OK,” Mulenga said. A litany of injuries have blighted Mulenga’s career since he moved from Zambian club Afrisports to Europe in 2003 to play for French club Chateauroux.
The latest saw him miss the 2012 Africa Cup when he was sidelined for 10 months and only returned to action this season for his Dutch club. Mulenga also missed the 2006 Africa Cup due to injury.
Mulenga has made a roaring return to action this season for Utrecht scoring 12 goals in 23 matches despite his disappointing outing at the Africa Cup in South Africa where he only saw a barren 15 minutes of action.
