How Egypt fell in love with Jackson Mayanja

Retired Uganda Cranes midfielder Jackson ‘Mia Mia' Mayanja is one of the best players to have graced Uganda's soccer scene.

He was regarded as the best player of his generation because of his silky skills on the ball. He excited on the pitch with his dribbles, awareness and goals for both club (KCC FC) and country.

But the highlight of his career was when he joined Egyptian side El Masry in 1992 as a professional having helped KCC FC to the 1991 league title.

At El Masry, he led them to their first trophy in five years then (1993) shortly after he had helped the Cranes win the Challenge Cup. But the one-week delay in Uganda cost his team as they lost to champions Zamalek and drew 0-0 with Buhadati Mahaka.

The fans rioted blaming the club president Sayeed Metwaly for having released their star for national duty at such a crucial time when they were eyeing the cup.

But he arrived just in time for another crucial knock-out match which was due in a week's time and the entire Port Said town celebrated his return.

The Kesh Cup (Egypt's version of Uganda Cup) was against Mansoura, a club that had eliminated El-Masry in the previous year's quarter-finals and it drew one of the biggest crowds in Port Said history and newspapers ran headlines that ‘Messiah' Mayanja promises a win this time.

In the match, he lived up to expectations when in the first half and against all odds he picked a loose ball on the left and with his bicycle swerves sent two defenders the wrong way, entered the 18-yard box dangerously and was brought down for a penalty which was converted for the first goal.

In the second half, Mayanja operating in midfield made a dash on the right flank before commissioning a perfect curving cross that team captain Ayid Sayid volleyed home for the winner to send the crowd into frenzy.

Mayanja given a horse

At the final whistle, the entire El Masry team members were carried shoulder high and the club president was pardoned for his earlier ‘sin'. Each member of the team was showered with gifts, with one fan donating a horse to Mayanja in appreciation for his brilliance.

It is in Egypt where he scored eight goals in his debut season and helping the side finish fourth in the league that he got the moniker ‘Mia Mia' due to his perfection on the pitch. He always offered 100% performance and commitment while on duty for the club.

The scouts of French first division side Lyon FC who had tracked Mayanja in Mwanza during the East and Central Africa Senior Challenge Cup, were in Port Said for this match and expressed interest in signing Mayanja the following season. But the El Masry president did not agree to the deal because Mayanja still had a three-year running contract with them.

Killer goals

Mayanja would later in Cairo score another winner against champions Zamalek that eliminated them from the same competition. Two Zamalek fans collapsed and died after the final whistle with others collapsing and ending up in hospital.

"Those were big moments. It is the reason I ensured I performed to my best so that such moments can be relived for years," Mayanja says.

Asked about what happened to his gift (horse) Mayanja said he returned it to the owner because at the time he was so naive to even know that it (horse) could be airlifted to Uganda. Being naive is a bad thing! I was so naive, I just returned the horse."

Turning down Kawooya and Villa

"You remember even before I went to Egypt I turned down several cash offers from SC Villa because I thought being a KCC FC player was the best thing then, yet there wasn't much I was getting financially," Mayanja recalls.

"Players of the time were just playing for pride, that is why most of them are not financially well-off today. Even the late Villa president Patrick Kawooya went to my father and promised him a brand new Tata lorry full of matooke if he could convince me to join them but I refused because I felt a sense of belonging to KCC FC; but now things have changed.

"I was on fire then, I could dribble at will and even recently El-Masry fans visited me and asked me out for a match which we had alongside Haruna Kyobe and the Saudi Arabia ambassador.

"The Saudis courted me for six months but I later joined Esperance of Tunisia though  I had to cancel my contract there due to injury, but the club president adored me," Mayanja stated.

Mayanja would later return to KCC in 1996 and later won the 1997 league title with them. He had also won two Uganda Cup titles in1987 and in 1990.

In the early years, he went to Police Children School and later Kololo Secondary School where he began his career and captained the school team winning several national school titles.