Kennedy Mweene


Kennedy Mweene is a retired Zambian professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. On club level he spent most of his career in South African Premier Soccer League clubs Free State Stars and Mamelodi Sundowns. For the Zambia national team, he is the most capped player, having represented Zambia more than 120 times.

Club career

Renowned for his penalty-saving and penalty-taking skills, Mweene was arguably one of the best goalkeepers in Africa, winning the PSL Goalkeeper of the Season award in the 2008–09 season. He played for Free State Stars until the end of the 2012–13 season. On 27 June 2013, he agreed to a three-year deal with Mamelodi Sundowns.
Mweene retired in July 2023.

International career

After being beaten from the spot by Samuel Eto'o at the 2008 [Africa Cup of Nations], he went on to save every penalty he was presented with while playing for the Zambia national team. He was the first-choice goalkeeper for Zambia after making his debut in 2004 and was a participant at the 2006 African Nations Cup, 2008 African Nations Cup, 2010 African Nations Cup and the 2012 African Nations Cup. On 12 February 2012, Mweene kept a clean sheet during the 2012 [Africa Cup of Nations Final] and saved one penalty kick in the shootout to decide the game, which was eventually won by Zambia. He was chosen as the goalkeeper of the tournament. During the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations Mweene converted a penalty kick, earning a 1–1 draw against Nigeria and also saved two penalties during the tournament.
In 2015, Mweene participated in the sixth edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, which was the 30th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations and was hosted by Equatorial Guinea from 17 January to 8 February 2015.

Career statistics

No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
125 January 2013Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit, South Africa1–11–12013 Africa Cup of Nations
215 October 2014Levy Mwanawasa Stadium, Ndola, Zambia3–03–02015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying

Honours

Free State Stars
Mamelodi Sundowns
Zambia