2004’s ten wishes
Jan 09, 2004
WHAT does the Probe Committee, The Arrow Group, Cranes exit from the Nations Cup campaign, the 22-goal galore have in common? It was one very bad year for football in Uganda. In fact this most popular sport is still on a sick bed with no signs of recovery. Only divine intervention and prayer are the
By Joseph Batte
WHAT does the Probe Committee, The Arrow Group, Cranes exit from the Nations Cup campaign, the 22-goal galore have in common? It was one very bad year for football in Uganda. In fact this most popular sport is still on a sick bed with no signs of recovery. Only divine intervention and prayer are the solution. So, dear God these are my ten wishes for the year 2004.
Wish No.1. Rid us of a menace called Dennis Obua and other soccer goons that think like him.
He has been responsible for the rot in soccer. He let a lucrative MTN sponsorship of the national team slip through his hands. And now Nile Breweries have also withdrawn their generous hand. He stood at the sidelines and watched as football standards plunged in a deep, dark hole. Save for Challenge Cup, during his reign the Cranes have called heads and but instead turned up tails in more prestigious campaigns like the Nations and World Cup.
Wish No. 2. Let’s hire a national coach who will help the Cranes soar higher.
Now that the Nations and World Cup campaigns have come calling, technical chairman Vincent Semanobe should bury for good the idea of hiring an Italian-speaking World Cup hero called Pedro Persculli. He abandoned the national team at a crucial time, then lied to the nation that he was going to attend to his sick father, only to pop up on an Italian beach with a beach football team! Not only a coach, we also need a team of psychiatrists to tell our players that 60% football is played in the head, 40% is physical. Good Lord, it’s not with the help of Juju.
Wish No. 3. KCC fans should let Mike Mutebi be.
This 30-something coach enjoys football like he does his favourite meal. But KCC fans, some of the most impatient in the country, instigated his sack in 1997. But since his return, Ekiri e Lugogo! Kasasiro Boys are once again an exciting, cohesive side that plays some very watchable football. You have to grit your teeth to beat them.
Wish No. 4 Villa and Express should not contend themselves with league titles and Kakungulu Cups. Real glory lies elsewhere.
It lies in the lucrative group stages of the Club championship, the $1m-prizemoney and World Club Championship. The hardest part to swallow for fans is that last year all Ugandan clubs competing in the continental engagements were knocked out earlier. A club like Villa, that boasts to be an epitome of organisation, should also be efficient on the pitch both on the local and international stage.
Wish No.5 Damn the Arrow Group of referees to hell.
Or let them be struck by lightening. A cross-section of these men in black brought disrepute to the game by giving away and awarding fake penalties with no remorse at all. It was all because a few thousand shillings had been handed to them in envelopes. Arrow Group is name of a militia group helping to hunt down a thug called Kony. Maybe they should join them.
Wish No.6. Villa officials prevail over some of their nitty-witty fans so that they stop their shameful acts of beating up their own.
These fans turned against their very own supporters and beat them up for allegedly speaking against their club on radio. They even tried throw one of them through the window of the Golden Table in Nakasero. The other, they cornered on the streets and beat him up like he was a thief. Their crime was trying to separate the fan from the journalist in them.
Wish No.7. Let business tycoon Michael Ezra take over football as well.
Look what he has done for athletics and boxing. He could do the nation a great favour if he took over the role of FUFA. While Obua and co. seem unable to account for the thousands of dollars that FIFA pumps in the country, he would hardly rush to the bank to draw the Fifa dollars the next day like the Obua people do. He would simply dig dip in his pocket.
Wish No.8. Fufa pays back ‘Uncle Money’ Kirumira’s millions.
“Or else the new Fufa house in Namirembe is to go,†Uncle Money has allegedly threatened.
Wish No. 9. Let Villa’s Micho and now Express’ Sianga bury the hatchet.
The last time the two coaches met in Cecafa challenge cup at Namboole, Sainga tried to headbutt the Villa tactician. The younger Serbian responded with a right hook that almost dislocated Sianga’s jaw. Sianga vowed to revenge.
Wish No. 10. Let my Arsenal win the premier, European and world club championship.
I can hear the Reds’ fans, even the new ones in the Russian galaxy screaming ‘Noooo’ ‘Why?’ Arsenal plays the most attractive football in English the premier league. In a black French man called Thiery, they have one of the most exciting strikers in the world. That’s why.
Happy New Year!
WHAT does the Probe Committee, The Arrow Group, Cranes exit from the Nations Cup campaign, the 22-goal galore have in common? It was one very bad year for football in Uganda. In fact this most popular sport is still on a sick bed with no signs of recovery. Only divine intervention and prayer are the solution. So, dear God these are my ten wishes for the year 2004.
Wish No.1. Rid us of a menace called Dennis Obua and other soccer goons that think like him.
He has been responsible for the rot in soccer. He let a lucrative MTN sponsorship of the national team slip through his hands. And now Nile Breweries have also withdrawn their generous hand. He stood at the sidelines and watched as football standards plunged in a deep, dark hole. Save for Challenge Cup, during his reign the Cranes have called heads and but instead turned up tails in more prestigious campaigns like the Nations and World Cup.
Wish No. 2. Let’s hire a national coach who will help the Cranes soar higher.
Now that the Nations and World Cup campaigns have come calling, technical chairman Vincent Semanobe should bury for good the idea of hiring an Italian-speaking World Cup hero called Pedro Persculli. He abandoned the national team at a crucial time, then lied to the nation that he was going to attend to his sick father, only to pop up on an Italian beach with a beach football team! Not only a coach, we also need a team of psychiatrists to tell our players that 60% football is played in the head, 40% is physical. Good Lord, it’s not with the help of Juju.
Wish No. 3. KCC fans should let Mike Mutebi be.
This 30-something coach enjoys football like he does his favourite meal. But KCC fans, some of the most impatient in the country, instigated his sack in 1997. But since his return, Ekiri e Lugogo! Kasasiro Boys are once again an exciting, cohesive side that plays some very watchable football. You have to grit your teeth to beat them.
Wish No. 4 Villa and Express should not contend themselves with league titles and Kakungulu Cups. Real glory lies elsewhere.
It lies in the lucrative group stages of the Club championship, the $1m-prizemoney and World Club Championship. The hardest part to swallow for fans is that last year all Ugandan clubs competing in the continental engagements were knocked out earlier. A club like Villa, that boasts to be an epitome of organisation, should also be efficient on the pitch both on the local and international stage.
Wish No.5 Damn the Arrow Group of referees to hell.
Or let them be struck by lightening. A cross-section of these men in black brought disrepute to the game by giving away and awarding fake penalties with no remorse at all. It was all because a few thousand shillings had been handed to them in envelopes. Arrow Group is name of a militia group helping to hunt down a thug called Kony. Maybe they should join them.
Wish No.6. Villa officials prevail over some of their nitty-witty fans so that they stop their shameful acts of beating up their own.
These fans turned against their very own supporters and beat them up for allegedly speaking against their club on radio. They even tried throw one of them through the window of the Golden Table in Nakasero. The other, they cornered on the streets and beat him up like he was a thief. Their crime was trying to separate the fan from the journalist in them.
Wish No.7. Let business tycoon Michael Ezra take over football as well.
Look what he has done for athletics and boxing. He could do the nation a great favour if he took over the role of FUFA. While Obua and co. seem unable to account for the thousands of dollars that FIFA pumps in the country, he would hardly rush to the bank to draw the Fifa dollars the next day like the Obua people do. He would simply dig dip in his pocket.
Wish No.8. Fufa pays back ‘Uncle Money’ Kirumira’s millions.
“Or else the new Fufa house in Namirembe is to go,†Uncle Money has allegedly threatened.
Wish No. 9. Let Villa’s Micho and now Express’ Sianga bury the hatchet.
The last time the two coaches met in Cecafa challenge cup at Namboole, Sainga tried to headbutt the Villa tactician. The younger Serbian responded with a right hook that almost dislocated Sianga’s jaw. Sianga vowed to revenge.
Wish No. 10. Let my Arsenal win the premier, European and world club championship.
I can hear the Reds’ fans, even the new ones in the Russian galaxy screaming ‘Noooo’ ‘Why?’ Arsenal plays the most attractive football in English the premier league. In a black French man called Thiery, they have one of the most exciting strikers in the world. That’s why.
Happy New Year!