Football Association of Malawi has released a list of three nominees for the 2022 Airtel Top 8 player of the tournament award.
The three are Nyasa Big Bullets defender Gomezgani Chirwa and Mighty Mukuru Wanderers duo of striker Chiukepo Msowoya and defender Miracle Gabeya.
The winner will be crowned at a special ceremony to be hosted by the sponsors Airtel Malawi in February.
According to FAM Competitions and Communications Director Gomezgani Zakazaka the Competitions Technical Study group came up with nominations after analysing the competition’s statistics.
Zakazaka said a selected group of coaches under the National Coaches Association, who were responsible for selecting player of the match in the competition ,and some football journalists will vote for the award.
Three players namely Msowoya, Lanjesi Nkhoma and Clement Nyondo finished as joint top goal scorers with two goals each.
Briefs on the 2022 Airtel Top 8 Player of the Tournament Nominees
Name: Gomezgani Chirwa
Position: Defender
Club: Nyasa Big Bullets
Number of games Played: 3
Number of games started: 3
Total Number of Minutes played: 257
Goals scored: 1
Gomezgani Chirwa was one of the outstanding players for Nyasa Big Bullets not just in the Airtel Top 8 but in the entire 2022 season. Despite being a defender, he was one of the key players initiating attacks for Bullets as they demolished Karonga United 8-1 and Silver Strikers 3-1enroute to their back-to-back final which they lost to rivals Mighty Mukuru Wanderers. He scored probably the goal of the tournament in Bullets’ win over Silver strikers after beating keeper Emmance Nyirenda from 40 yards out.
Name: Miracle Gabeya
Position: Defender
Club: Mighty Mukuru Wanderers
Number of games Played: 4
Number of games started: 4
Total Number of Minutes played: 360
Goals scored: 0
One of the few players who played every minute of the competition as Wanderers won their first Airtel Top 8 title. The Nomads were undefeated in all the four matches and credit should go to their defense led by Gabeya. With the Nomads using three goalkeepers in the four matches, the ever-present Gabeya was reliable rock at the back as Nomads won their first silverware in four years with clean sheet.
Name: Chiukepo Msowoya
Position: Striker
Club: Mighty Mukuru Wanderers
Number of games Played: 4
Number of games started: 3.
Total Number of Minutes played: 269
Goals scored: 2.
MoM awards: 1
The veteran striker started on the bench in the opening match and only came in as a 72nd minute substitute. However, he later become the main striker starting all the remaining three games and featured for the whole 90 minutes in the final. He scored two crucial goals against MAFCO in the quarterfinal return leg, in which he was Man of the Match, as well as against Blue Eagles in the semifinal to finish as one of the three joint top goal scorers.
