Football

Somalia's goalkeeper Mustaf Mohamed hangs up gloves after eSwatini blunder

Mustaf Mohamed © Courtesy

By Michael Kirwa | Wednesday, March 27, 2024

The goalkeeper has been under fire following a howler that gifted eSwatini an easy goal in an AFCON 2025 preliminary round qualification match played on Tuesday in South Africa

Mustaf Mohamed, alias Nakujja, has announced his retirement from the Somali national football team in a post on Facebook on Tuesday following the Ocean Stars’ 2-2 draw with eSwatini during the second leg match of their AFCON 2025 Preliminary Round qualifier contest which was played at the Mbombela Stadium in South Africa.

“I have been playing football for a long time and I declare that my national team career is over,” the goalkeeper who is attached to Swedish Division 2 club IFK Berga said in the Facebook post.

Keep reading

“I thank the Somalia Football Federation and all the members I worked with throughout the years I was in the team,” Mustaf added.

Mustaf’s retirement follows heavy criticism he received for a howler he made that gifted eSwatini their first goal. After comfortably claiming a cross, Mustaf tried to restart play with a short pass but his weak attempt to release the ball to his nearest teammate was easily pounced on by eSwatini’s forward Sabelo Ndzinisa who easily slotted the ball into the net to put his team 1-0 up.

ESWATINI 🇸🇿 GOAL TO MAKE IT 1-0 MUSTAF NAKUJA 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/4I3kDdNJKW
— SOMALI ATHLETE (@SomaliAthlete) March 26, 2024

Even though Somalia recovered to draw the match 2-2 after scoring two late goals, there was a general sentiment among Somali football fans that Mustaf’s blunder cost the team victory.

Mustaf made his debut for the national team on October 9, 2015, during a 2-0 loss to Niger in a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier match.

Mustaf had moved to Sweden in 2020 after joining Nybro IF from Somali Premier League club Heegan. He spent a year at Nybro IF before transferring to Osakrshamns AIK in 2021. He then left Osakrshamns AIK in 2023 to join his current club, IFK Berga. Before featuring for Heegan, Mustaf had started his career at Midnimo then moved to Jeenyo United where he spent three seasons before his transfer to Heegan.