Lady Doves ride on Ikwaput’s Uefa Champions league experience

Lady Doves, just like each of the teams to play in the Caf Women’s Champions League zonal qualifiers, will be up for a first-time experience when the August 28 - September 9 games finally kick off in Nairobi, Kenya.

But with the recently concluded Fufa Women’s Super League (FWSL) season most valuable player and top scorer Fazila Ikwaput, the local champions have a sailor with a bit of experience in sailing the murky continental club competitions waters.

Making the continental grade is no easy ride. And Ikwaput, who perfectly confirms the saying that smooth seas make no great sailors, is the perfect steward for a side that will love to ride on an underdog status.

Her style of play; running in behind defences, running at defenders and popping up in the box to finish off moves is the stuff that has made her a major attraction on three continents in just a space of three years.

In early 2018, Ikwaput joined Indian side Gokulam Kerala after a stellar season in which she led little-known Olila to the Fufa Women Cup title. The feat saw her crowned the Airtel-Fufa Female Footballer of the Year. 

She played six matches scoring five goals for the team in India’s first-ever women’s league. Her exploits landed her another move, this time to Europe at Kazakhstan women’s league top tier side BIIK Kazygurt.

It is at Kazygurt that she played at the coveted Uefa Women’s Champions League. The club had qualified to play but had to start from the preliminary qualifying round.

Ikwaput helped the team navigate and top a group that had teams from Greece, Austria and Latvia – scoring three goals and claiming three assists to set up a dream round of 32 tie against Spanish giants Barcelona. 

Not cowed by the occasion and coming in during the second half, Ikwaput went on to score a goal and an assist as BIIK beat the star-studded Catalans 3-1 on September 12, 2018. 

Unfortunately, she got injured and could not make the return leg a fortnight later. Her absence was felt as BIIK lost 3-0 to get bundled out.

“That match was the highlight of my career,” Ikwaput told SCORE in May. “If I played that match, we would have eliminated them.”

That’s the confidence and kind of messages Lady Doves will love to see and hear in their dressing room for the next two weeks.

They witnessed it in April when her heroics dragged Doves past perennial champions Kawempe Muslim and Uganda Christian University to earn a maiden league title.

Lady Doves coach Rajab Buyinza, says they want to tap into that experience to inspire the team at the Cecafa zonal qualifiers that climax September 1 with just one team making the grade to the continental showpieces slated for later in the year in Egypt.

“Her experience is very vital like you saw during the league, so we will try to tap into it for inspiration and leadership on the field,” Buyinza said. 

“We have several other players who have played for the national teams on the international level.” 

The other key players include goalkeeper Daisy Nakaziro, midfielder Riticia Nabosa and new signings Daphine Nyayenga and Gloria Namugerwa, who have impressed for the popular U-17 and U-20 national sides.
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