Muwanga a new star
Sep 14, 2011
Many roads lead to the Uganda Cranes. For most, the journey starts in Kampala or Masaka or Arua. That is to say, in Uganda. For others, it starts abroad. At least that is what 20 year-old Gerrard Muwanga is hoping.
By Charles Mutebi
Many roads lead to the Uganda Cranes. For most, the journey starts in Kampala or Masaka or Arua. That is to say, in Uganda. For others, it starts abroad. At least that is what 20 year-old Gerrard Muwanga is hoping.
Born and bred in Germany, the young footballer is the son of Ugandan Paul Nalukoola Muwanga, who immigrated to the European state in the late 1980s. Point is, Gerrard has a comfortable background – by German standards. He could have become anything, from film director to rocket scientist.
Yet he wants to be a footballer. “Gerrard has loved the game from an early age so I decided to help him chase his dream,†narrates. “I was a good footballer but in our time the game wasn’t so lucrative. So in a sense I am trying to achieve what I missed through my son.â€
Gerrard currently turns out for Neustrelitz, a side in the fifth tier of German football. By any measure, Gerrard is a long way from the high table of German football and the window is steadily closing in on the realisation of a glittering football career.
“He has to exploit this one year, so that by next June we really know whether he has what it takes to pursue a football career,†Paul revealed.
Hopefully, this 6ft3 tender-looking defender can collide with a meteoric rise. The Cranes might need him someday.
Many roads lead to the Uganda Cranes. For most, the journey starts in Kampala or Masaka or Arua. That is to say, in Uganda. For others, it starts abroad. At least that is what 20 year-old Gerrard Muwanga is hoping.
Born and bred in Germany, the young footballer is the son of Ugandan Paul Nalukoola Muwanga, who immigrated to the European state in the late 1980s. Point is, Gerrard has a comfortable background – by German standards. He could have become anything, from film director to rocket scientist.
Yet he wants to be a footballer. “Gerrard has loved the game from an early age so I decided to help him chase his dream,†narrates. “I was a good footballer but in our time the game wasn’t so lucrative. So in a sense I am trying to achieve what I missed through my son.â€
Gerrard currently turns out for Neustrelitz, a side in the fifth tier of German football. By any measure, Gerrard is a long way from the high table of German football and the window is steadily closing in on the realisation of a glittering football career.
“He has to exploit this one year, so that by next June we really know whether he has what it takes to pursue a football career,†Paul revealed.
Hopefully, this 6ft3 tender-looking defender can collide with a meteoric rise. The Cranes might need him someday.