Two Ascent Academy players in Iceland for trials

Ascent Soccer Academy striker Levison Munyenyembe and midfielder Precious Kapunda left for Iceland for professional football trials with second tier league side Afturelding FC.

Ascent Soccer Academy  founder George Maguire yesterday said the 18-year-olds attracted the attention of the European side following their impressive performance during the training placements they had with the outfit last July.

The two players joined Ascent at the age of 12 in 2017 and were part of the Under-17 squad that beat Mamelodi Sundowns junior team 3-0 and drew two-all against SuperSport United Under-20 side during the South Africa Tour in 2022.

Said Maguire: “Levi and Precious have been with us for many years and they deserve this professional opportunity to play overseas. We see Iceland as an interesting landing spot in Europe and a stepping stone to Scandinavia should they do well.”

He said it is great to see young Malawian players getting European opportunities and acquiring experience in high level training and development environment.

On their part, Munyenyembe and Kapunda said are happy to have secured the opportunities and they will work hard to pass the trials.

“This is probably a lifetime opportunity for me. I have always dreamed about playing professional football abroad and I will do my best not to lose this great chance,” said Munyenyembe.

Ascent Soccer is currently Malawi’s sole full-time residential academy based in Lilongwe and has produced over 20 youth internationals for Malawi since 2018 as well as five female senior internationals.

A number of Ascent graduates are playing in the TNM Super League. They  include Silver Strikers’ new signing Christopher Gototo and Civo Service United players Lovemore Mbeta and Festus Duwe.