Nunda beauty reminder of why we love football

Graceful finish. Nunda showed remarkable coolness to score a goal of the highest quality for KCCA against Onduparaka at Lugogo on Tuesday PHOTO BY AMINAH BABIRYE

I unfortunately belong to the generation that never watched Phillip Omondi, unanimously acclaimed as the greatest player in the history of Ugandan football.
With no footage readily available to do justice to the great man’s legacy, my memory of the former KCC (now KCCA) and Uganda Cranes forward is from patched up accounts of those who watched him mesmerise domestic and international opponents for club and country.
Yet regardless of the number of descriptions from the generation that saw him, my understanding of his greatness remains at best vague – almost like an illusion.
Omondi’s misfortune was excelling in the 70s and 80s era when live television was a dream.
But today in a poor third world country like Uganda, it is possible to archive the moving pictures of the Uganda Premier League.
This week Tuesday on a chilly evening at the StarTimes Stadium at Lugogo, until recently a ground named in honour of the great Omondi, KCCA’s Jackson Nunda scored a goal of such impudence and ingenuity that even Mike Mutebi could not resist the urge to wheel away in celebration.
Mutebi is notoriously difficult to please but for once, he ran short of superlatives when reliving Nunda’s majestic finish.
It wasn’t, of course, only Mutebi who was left enchanted by the strike. Both sets of fans and neutrals at the stadium paid homage to the moment of genius from a player blessed with bags of talent but a career whose progress has been stalled by intermittent injury.
The beauty about the beautiful game is that the moments that tend to stick in the memory rarely last more than four seconds, and Nunda’s craft was all pulled off in a trice.
Receiving the ball from a brush by a Patrick Kaddu, his first touch caressed the ball in the direction of the box, the second took out his marker Norman Saddam, the third albeit with a feint of elegance dug Onduparaka goalkeeper Nicholas Ssebwato into the artificial turf before he switched possession to his weaker right foot and rolled the onion bag into an empty net.
In an instant, the engulfing atmosphere at Lugogo was one of joy, appreciation and amazement.
In that split moment, Nunda reminded us all why football is a game universally loved; you can’t do so much in so short a time without having to break sweat.
And that precisely is what Nunda, a substitute, did. Unlike Omondi, Nunda’s goal will be framed for the ages. The video clip will be archived for generations to admire.
Such glorious pieces of action can only stand the league in good stead. Football is entertainment after all. And it is goals like Nunda’s that will go some way in returning passion to the Uganda Premier League stands.

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Vipers scored a brilliant goal of their own when they unveiled my former colleague Abdu Wasike as head of their communications department.
Having worked with him, I have no doubt in my mind that Wasike’s appointment can only improve a club that is headed in the right direction.
For a while the club’s communication had left a lot to be desired.
Despite building a stunning stadium and unveiling two sponsors in Roofings and Hima Cement, information flow from the Kitende-based club was wishy-washy.
No doubt the club’s season will ultimately be judged by what transpires on the field.
And yes, Wasike will not make assists or score like Nunda.
But with the steps towards professionalism that Vipers’ management under Lawrence Mulindwa have embraced lately, it was imperative that the club hire a person to manage that office.
KCCA and Vipers have thrown the gauntlet to the rest of the league.

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