Return to Europe conceivable
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In May 2016, London native Melvyn Lorenzen played 45 minutes for the Uganda national team against Zimbabwe. Almost ten years later, the ex-Werder Bremen professional, who now plays for Muangthong United in Thailand, celebrated his comeback – and is in the squad for the Africa Cup. All because he proactively applied to the association in October with a video via WhatsApp. Now the 31-year-old gave insight into his strange return.
“I wrote to them that I was playing in Thailand and sent over my highlight video. I also said that I would be available for whatever came up,” Lorenzen told Kicker about his approach in the fall. Only a short time later he received an invitation from the association and was allowed to play on the offensive left wing against Morocco and Chad in November, where he even scored his first goal in a Uganda jersey. The son of a Ugandan father and a German mother made such a positive impression on Belgian coach Paul Put that he called Lorenzen into the squad for the Africa Cup of Nations that started this weekend. The striker could start as early as Tuesday evening against Tunisia.
The professional, who was once trained in the youth ranks of Holstein Kiel and Werder Bremen, now has nine stations in his career. In the 2013/14 season he made his debut for the Green and Whites in the Bundesliga, followed by twelve more appearances and a goal in the top flight for Lorenzen in 2016, who mostly continued to play for Werder’s second representative in these years. In 2017 he moved to the Dutch Eredivisie, followed by clubs in Ukraine, Poland, Ireland and Thailand. The 1.88 meter tall right-footer told the magazine that he was last in Germany in 2023 during his station in Worms. A return to Europe is still an issue for him.
The striker could recommend himself for the Africa Cup, for which he and his team have clear ambitions: “Progressing in the group is definitely the goal. The boys did really well in the World Cup qualification and got good results against big nations. We are the underdogs in the group with Nigeria, Tunisia and Tanzania, but the best third-placed teams also advance and so anything is possible.”