Onyango serving as a role model for young players

Last week Uganda Cranes captain and goalkeeper Denis Onyango was voted as the best goalkeeper on the African continent for the third straight time.

The Mamelodi Sundowns custodian, who hails from Busia, is now indisputably the greatest goalkeeper in the history of Ugandan football and one of the country’s finest footballers of all time.

Lest we forget, the former SC Villa, St George and SuperSport United shot-stopper was also voted as the best Africa-based footballer of the year 2016.
The Denis Onyango superlatives can’t be exhausted in these lines.

Yet Onyango could well be the role model young, talented Ugandan footballers have been lacking.

For years, aspiring footballers and sportsmen have not had that one individual to look up to; that one person in Ugandan around whom they could be build their dreams and work to excel in the hope of succeeding at the highest level.

outstanding sportsmen of yesteryears either wasted their futures away on the bottle or lived in abject poverty before passing on.

And in as much as sports was not as rewarding as it is today, it is pertinent to note that many of them did not do a fair job of using their earnings well.
Onyango, however, has ticked several boxes when it comes to forging an illustrious career and investing his money well.

The married father of four is a dedicated professional, an ardent trainer at Mamelodi Sundowns and a leader of men.
But there is another side to him.

Onyango has endured many pitfalls in his career, but has always risen almost immediately. They say the true measure of a man’s will is when confronted with adversity.

The 34-year-old faced low moments with Cranes, SuperSport United and Mpumalanga Black Aces but used his inner resolve to defy despondency and bounce back.

In 2016, he was ranked the tenth best goalkeeper by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics. It is not an exaggeration to say he is still among the top ten goalkeepers in the world.

It is a pleasant moment seeing kids of today rushing towards the Cranes bus to get either a selfie or autograph of Onyango.

In him, they have created a myriad of sporting dreams.
Teenage footballers will believe that they can become the Onyangos of tomorrow because they can see him up close and share his greatness.
Onyango’s achievements must also inspire his national teammates to conduct themselves in a manner that can give hope to the stars to tomorrow.