Keeper eyes more coups for Uganda
DENIS ONYANGO ended the CAF Champions League final just as he started the group stage of the competition – on the sidelines anxiously watching Mamelodi Sundowns try to get past a hostile North African crowd.
He didn’t have a choice in the first instance when the Brazilians played ES Setif in Algeria because he’d been suspended over a silly red card he’d picked up against Medeama in the playoffs of the CAF Confederation Cup.
That booking stayed on, even though that match technically didn’t exist after Sundowns were reinstated into the group stage of the Champions League in place of AS Vita, who fielded a suspended player. But on Sunday, it was Onyango’s decision to leave the biggest game of his life at Borg El-Arab Stadium after he collided with Zamalek forward Stanley Ohawuchi.
“He hit me with the knee on my face,” said Onyango, pictured. “I was (disorientated) after that. As the game went on, I couldn’t see anything. I had to go off. I decided to give the chance to Wayne (Sandilands) and he did the job for the team. It wasn’t about me finishing the game because there isn’t a need for me to finish the game when I am not feeling well. It would have cost the team to only think about me. I knew that Wayne was ready. I gave him a sign when I wasn’t feeling well so that he could warm up. The most important thing was the team getting the trophy.”
Sundowns got that trophy and Onyango became the first Ugandan player to win the Champions League. The trip to Egypt was good for the 31-year-old because it and the other three matches Sundowns played against Zamalek helped him get a better understanding of the Egyptians. And Onyango and his countrymen are grouped with the Pharaohs, Ghana and Congo-Brazzaville in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers.
He was solid when the Cranes started their campaign with a goalless draw against Ghana in Tamale. They host Congo next month before taking on Egypt in back-to-back games next year. The Cranes have already caused an upset by qualifying for next year’s Afcon. They want to go one better and make it to the global showpiece now.
“If we get three points at home, 10 points in total, then I believe we will qualify for the World Cup because that will be enough,” Onyango said. “No-one gives us a chance. But you never know in football. Ghana and Egypt will cancel themselves out when they meet each other.”
Sundowns were also not expected to go far in the Champions League because they were drawn in a tough group. But they defied the odds and ended up as African champions. It was a sweet result for Onyango, who has spent the better part of his career in the shadow of other goalkeepers, whether it’s at SuperSport United, Mpumalanga Black Aces, Wits and even Sundowns at first. He worked hard to cement his place as the club’s No 1 choice, to such an extent that he doesn’t feel like he needs to prove a point.
Putting the team first is one of the qualities that coach Pitso Mosimane likes about Onyango, whose safe pair of hands helped the club win the league last season and earned him the Footballer of the Year award in Uganda. “Pitso believes in me,” Onyango said. “He knows my qualities. He brought me to South Africa (10 years ago at SuperSport United). I had to fight for my place because it wasn’t about being in a comfort zone. It was about fighting. We don’t mix friendship and work. He says this to everyone.
“When he gave me a chance, I took it and never looked back.”