Marjolen Nekesa

Marjolen Nekesa
Personal information
Full name Marjolen Nekesa Wafula
Date of birth (1998-10-27) 27 October 1998 (age 26)
Place of birth Kitale, Kenya
Position(s) Midfielder, striker
Team information
Current team
 Slavia Prague
Number 9
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
4 Oklahoma Wesleyan Eagles
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2022 Minsk 15 (31)
2022– Slavia Prague 16 (14)
International career
Kenya
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Marjolen Nekesa Wafula (born 27 October 1998) is a Kenyan footballer who plays as a midfielder or striker for Czech Women's First League club Slavia Prague.

Early life and education

Nekesa grew up in Kitale, Kenya.[citation needed] She was introduced to play football by her father at a young age.[1] Nekesa attended Butere Girls High School before moving to the United States to attend Oklahoma Wesleyan University, where she majored in sports management.[2] She scored 25 goals as a freshman.[3]

Club career

In 2022, Nekesa signed for Belarusian side Minsk, where she debuted and scored her first goal for the club during the Belarusian Women's Super Cup final.[citation needed] She was regarded as one of the club's most important players.[4] In 2022, she signed for Czech side Slavia, where she played in the UEFA Women's Champions League and became the first Kenyan women's player to play in the Czech Republic.[5] She was the top scorer of the 2022–23 Czech Women's First League with fourteen goals.[6]

International career

Nekesa was called up to the Kenya women's national football team for the 2018 Women's Africa Cup of Nations.[7]

Style of play

Nekesa mainly operates as a midfielder or a striker and has been described as "zapped opposing defenses with electric determination... combustible consistency might be the midfielder’s greatest asset".[3]

References

  1. ^ "Nová posila týmu, útočnice Marjolen Wafula Nekesa". SK Slavia Prague (in Czech). 11 October 2022.
  2. ^ Jebet, Rebecca (13 September 2017). "Football: Kenyan teen Nekesa settling well in US women's league". The Standard.
  3. ^ a b Tupa, Mike (17 April 2020). "OKWU PROFILE: Marjolen Nekesa, women's soccer". Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  4. ^ "Nekesa's numbers at Minsk". pepeta.co.ke.
  5. ^ "Marjolen Nekesa - Nation article".
  6. ^ "Marjolene Nekesa wants more". pepeta.co.ke.
  7. ^ "Marjolene Nekesa set to lead Kenya". goal.com.