Onyango celebrates contract extension with another title
Onyango
What you need to know:
Onyango, whose market value is 600,000 Euros (Shs2.3b), declined to disclose figures in his new deal but sources indicate he is now in the bracket of top earners at the club
Kampala.
Denis Onyango marked the signing of his four-year contract extension by adding yet another trophy to his collection after Mamelodi’s 1-0 Caf Super Cup victory over DRC’s TP Mazembe at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria at the weekend.
Ricardo Nascimento scored the game’s only goal nine minutes from full time to confirm Mamelodi Sundowns first Super Cup title and Onyango’s seventh trophy in all competitions for the Brazilians.
“For me it was very important to start the year on a high because I didn’t finish off last year very well in terms of playing for the club,” Onyango told Daily Monitor yesterday.
“After not having a good show in Japan at the club World Cup (where Sundowns lost all their matches), I had to work hard and get back to the top because I needed the confidence towards the New Year.
“Hopefully I will achieve more than last year but all thanks to the team as well who really help me to gain my confidence.”
Onyango, who made a crucial save on nine minutes when he parried Malango’s rebound to the post, knows the importance of keeping a clean sheet in a trophy-winning victory.
“It’s a cup final and when you keep a clean sheet in the final you are more likely to win the match unlike what happened in Japan when I let in some goals and the team couldn’t get back in the game.”
The Super Cup victory comes a week after the African champions, Sundowns, handed Onyango a four-year contract extension.
Onyango, whose market value is 600,000 Euros (Shs2.3b), declined to disclose figures in his new deal but sources indicate he is now in the bracket of top earners at the club.
Zimbabwe’s Khama Billiat leads the top earners list at Sundowns, reportedly taking home about R470,000 (Shs129m) per month.
Leonardo Castro (R400,000 {Shs110m}), Sifiso Vilakazi (R390,000 {Shs107m}) and Anthony Laffor (R380,000 {Shs105m}) are some of the other top earners at South Africa’s biggest paying football club.
“It (new deal) shows that the club has trusted me,” Onyango told Daily Monitor, “And they value my qualities and contributions to the achievements.
“This means I should work harder to keep focused towards my job and it will motivate me to ensure I get more for the club.”
Onyango enjoyed an impressive 2016 in which he led Uganda to this year’s Africa Cup of Nations – the first time the Cranes were making it in four decades.
He also helped Mamelodi Sundowns to the Caf Champions League title, becoming the first goalkeeper and Ugandan to ever win the African Player of the Year accolade (based in Africa).
