Madalitso Kufakwaisa

At 31, Madalitso Kufakwaisa can be said to be too young to retire from football as a goalkeeper.

Actually, it will be even harder to believe that the former Big Bullets, Escom United, Tigers FC and Sammys United goalie retired four years ago.

But listening to the reasons he stopped manning the posts in the Super League, one would probably side with him. For the love of the sport, he had endured long enough a problem that nagged him throughout his career.

“Had it not been for a knee injury I sustained while at Bullets Youth in 1998, I would still have been playing competitive football, but I had to quit in 2008,” said Kufakwaisa. He ventured into business after realising that the injury would ruin his life.

Despite the injury, Kufakwaisa ably helped his teams win crucial games. He earned a number of Under-20 call-ups. He even saved a penalty that could have pushed Escom United to relegation from the Super League in their match against Moyale Barracks at Mzuzu Stadium. The game ended in 1-1 draw.

“I thanked God for helping me save the penalty. We were bound for relegation had we lost the game, but we finished the season on 12th position,” he said.

Kufakwaisa was promoted to Bullets senior team in 1999. But he left the club for Sammys United in 2003 after realising that he could not stand the heat of competing with national team goalkeepers Swadick Sanudi, Kachibowo Malunga and Trust Lunda.

He also had a two-year stint at Escom United, from 2005, before he hung his gloves at Tigers four years ago.