Football Association of Malawi has released a list of three nominees for the 2023 Airtel Top 8 player of the tournament award.
The three are Nyasa Big Bullets duo of strikers Lanjesi Nkhoma and Maxwell Phoso and MAFCO goalkeeper Christopher Mikuwa.
The winner will be crowned at a special ceremony to be hosted by the sponsors Airtel Malawi later this month.
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.
Nkhoma won the golden boot with three goals.
Briefs on the 2023 Airtel Top 8 Player of the Tournament Nominees:
Name: Lanjesi Nkhoma
Position: Strikers
Club: FCB Nyasa Big Bullets
Number of games Played: 3
Number of games started: 3
Total Number of Minutes played: 174
Goals scored: 3
MOM: 1
Lanjesi Nkhoma was one of the outstanding players for FCB Nyasa Big Bullets as they won their second Airtel Top 8. He scored three goals including a brace in the final as Bullets edged MAFCO 2-1 at the Kamuzu Stadium which saw him walk away with the man of the match accolade.
Name: Maxwell Phodo
Position: Striker
Club: FCB Nyasa Big Bullets
Number of games Played: 3
Number of games started: 3
Total Number of Minutes played: 261
Goals: 2
With a game time of 261 minutes Maxwell Phodo ranked fourth on the players who played more minutes for the champions, just 36 minutes short of highly ranked Nickson Nyasulu. His scored in both legs against Civo in the quarterfinals with his return leg strike proving to be crucial as Bullets survived a Civo comeback-scare to proceed to the semi-final.
Name: Christopher Mikuwa
Position: Goalkeeper
Club: MAFCO
Number of games Played: 4
Number of games started: 4
Total Number of Minutes played: 360
Cleansheets: 1
MAFCO had a good run in Cup competitions in 2023 reaching two finals including the Airtel Top 8. One of the key players in their run to a first ever Top 8 final was goalkeeper Christopher Mikuwa. He kept a clean sheet in the quarter-final first leg match at home against Kamuzu Barracks which gave the Salima soldiers an advantage to advance to the semi-final on away goal rule following a one all draw in the return leg. He then become a hero in the semi-final, saving one penalty as MAFCO eliminated Silver Strikers on post-match penalties.
