Bayo looks the part after impressive Cranes debut

Abdallah Mubiru said this week that Fahad Aziz Bayo, the Vipers forward, was his “man of the match” in the Uganda Cranes 2-0 win against Malawi at Namboole, and it’s difficult to argue with the assistant national team coach on that one.

Quiet achiever
Bayo has flown under the radar despite doing a remarkable job in extremely testing circumstances.
The Uganda Cranes number nine role has been trying for so many since Geoffrey Massa hung his boots. Many suitors have been introduced including; Afcon 2019 hero Patrick Kaddu, Derrick Nsibambi, Hood Kaweesa, and Yunus Sentamu, among others. Bayo, 21, cut his teeth during his 18 months at Proline before he was quickly exported to Zambia from where Vipers picked their prized possession. Bayo does not doesn’t make many comments in the media. He just goes quietly about his work with his combative reputation. Bayo is aggressive on the pitch yet he stays in the shadows. Maybe this is one of the reasons that relatively little has been made of his achievements thus far.

Deservedly, he was named Pilsner player of September after scoring three goals to beat SC Villa midfielder David Owori and Maroons’ striker Steven Mukwala. With Vipers at the top of the league, the numbers don’t tell the whole story. Eight of the Venom’s 20 goals have been contributed by Bayo and on Steven Mukwala is better than him by two goals. The other 12 goals have been scored by a committee; Dan Muzeyi Sserunkuma (3), Bobosi Byaruhanga (2) while Brian Nkuubi, Frank Tumwesigye, Karim Watambala, Abraham Ndugwa, Paul Willa, Halidi Lwaliwa, Allan Kayiwa and Brian Kalumba have each scored once. Bayo joined Vipers with the likes of Sserunkuma, Denis Mwemezi, Henry Kitegenyi, Kayiwa and Muhammed Shaban, already boosting the attack. Thriving under such circumstances have established Bayo as one of the feared attackers in the league. Before Saturday’s goal, Bayo had scored one goal for the Chan team that played Burundi at Lugogo making it two goals in his five international games that include two friendlies.

Great future
Bayo came to the limelight through the Copa Coca-Cola Schools Cup. Seventeen goals introduced him to the Hoima fans in 2015 despite Kibuli exiting at the quarterfinal stage. He followed a similar path for many talented players joining Ssingo in the due course lifting the Masaza Cup gold medal at Namboole. He later joined the famed ‘football school’ of Proline where he scored 16 goals en route the team’s promotion from the Big League. In the next season, he scored seven goals before he left for Zambian Premier League side Buildcon where he was nominated for the player of the year award in 2018.

Yet his story begins at Homeland SS Lugazi. It was here that he was lured to Kibuli SS by Mubiru. He joined the 11-time winners alongside Emmanuel Asiku (Katwe United), Tony Kyewalabye (Police), Timothy Awany (Ashdod, Israel), Aggrey Madoi (Wakiso Giants) and Farouk Ssentongo, who once played for Lweza before a knee injury forced him out of the game. Mubiru reckons that Bayo is destined for greatness because he has an eye for goals, speed, and is good at headers and yet he plays like a typical number nine.

At the moment, he has established himself head above shoulders over Abdu Lumala, Alexis Bakka, injured Shaban Muhammada, Edrisa ‘Torres’ Lubega, Derrick Nsibambi yet his peers, Steven Mukwala and Gaddafi Wahab, with whom he played the 2014 championship, are finding it hard to penetrate into the Cranes set up.
“Such competition for places brings improvement and I know it will get the best out of him,” Mubiru added. This, after all, is Bayo’s big chance.

Adaptation
Left with little choice, McKinstry is trying to build his team around form rather than names. After the Cranes appearing at the last two Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals in Gabon (2017) and Egypt (2019), qualifying to a major tournament is no longer a big motivation rather than good performances. McKinstry has decided to go against his natural philosophy. He is steadily building a team that can play free-flowing, passing football. Against Malawi, deployed five attacking players; Emmanuel Okwi, William Luwagga Kizito, Bayo, Faruku Miya and Michael Azira as well as the marauding right back Nicholas Wadada, setting his team up in a 4-5-1 formation that gave nothing away.

It feels somewhat appropriate that the Northern Irishman has got his team playing flowing football. Bayo can thrive under such a formation with many ball players as he is famed for being aggressive especially in the box. He is not a one dimensional player like Kaddu, who thrives mostly on headers. Bayo’s discipline speaks volumes for his skills as a goal poacher for the future. With stronger options in attack there is little doubt Bayo would justifiably push for a position in McKinstry’s starting XI once again.

Credit where it’s due
There is no question that this tall, muscular, imposing figure commands the respect of the fellow players yet he is new in the national team set up. Goalkeeper Denis Onyango hailed Bayo’s performance on the debut saying “when you score on your first game all the fear disappears”. Yet we know that having a good game is not enough to guarantee success in the team. Kaddu, a hero just last June arguably had more adversity to contend with as he was an unused substitute against Malawi. So if Bayo ends up making such an impact on the national team, then he deserves a huge amount of credit especially as he was the only home-based player who started the game at Namboole. Bayo has all the makings of a top-class striker, and his priority has to be making sure he keeps scoring.

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