Farewell Denis Onyango, you will always be an inspiration to many

Two weeks ago, as we waited for the ridiculously slow immigration in Blantyre to clear us for departure, I sat across the bench from Denis Onyango.

It seemed to me that his way of coping with the loss to Malawi was to isolate himself from the rest of us and look for solace in his own thoughts. I wondered then what was going through his mind.
 
It turns out he was contemplating retirement and as Fufa president Moses Magogo shared this week, he wanted to announce his retirement immediately after the game but was advised not to. So, he held on. This week though that time arrived, and he finally communicated his retirement. But what a giant he has been for Uganda.

I struggle to remember a Ugandan who has enjoyed a career so long, so rewarding and so inspirational. Here is a man whose journey can be traced back to that dusty field up the road from clock Tower. Even then Denis Onyango, buoyed by his 6ft frame, exuded a certain confidence and ambition that all successful people tend to naturally possess and that must have made him a hard man to go past.

And it hasn’t always been plain sailing for him. He started off by following Micho from SC Villa to St George. There he ignited a professional career that has span close to two decades and six clubs. From Ethiopia, ambition was to take him down south where he ended up being tossed around five clubs (including a loan stint at Bidvest Wit in 2013) like chaff.

Even for a man of supreme confidence, there must have been a time in all this, when it crossed Denis Onyango’s mind that perhaps he wasn’t good enough to hold down his place on a team. But perhaps driven on by never wanting to go back to the wretched existence of a footballers’ life in Uganda and also the desire to repay a nation that never lost faith in his abilities, he stayed the fight.

That persistence eventually paid off. For country, he has been the first name on the team sheet for a decade. At club level, he is still on a mega-bucks contract at Mamelodi Sundowns.

Denis Onyango is a Ugandan with a birth right to play for his country. But men with his background and coaching have no business surviving professional football beyond the first few seasons. No Ugandan footballer is prepared for a life in the professional ranks.

They have to learn on the job and in environments where the language food and weather throw you completely off balance. For those who succeed it takes the kind of courage and discipline far removed from any examples life in Uganda can offer.

Yet we went on to have a stellar career as undisputed number one goalkeeper on the continent and whose climax must have been his award as Caf African Player of the Year based in Africa.

So, many of us wish he would stay for much longer. Forever. I am sure he, too, would have wished for more appealing circumstances within which to announce his retirement. But the decision has been made and it must be respected.

Denis Onyango earned his credibility, and we really ought to be celebrating what is easily the longest and most persistent professional career for a Ugandan sportsman. So, farewell Denis and may we all heed the lessons of your journey.

But it really wouldn’t be me if I didn’t say, I hope you come back to the national team soon, to start passing on your gifts to the next generation of goalkeepers.

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Twitter: @MBanturaki