Yunus Sentamu: UPL 16-goal star embracing total transformation
Frozen out. Annet Negesa qualified for London 2012 Games but could only follow from the stands after she was barred from participation over testerone levels. PHOTO/AGENCIES
What you need to know:
- Turning point: From playing for some of Africa’s top clubs and joining the paid ranks in Europe, Sentamu’s wheel of motion returned him back to earth with many concluding his career had gone south. Stars do not just die, they say.
At the start of 2014, Yunus Sentamu had established himself as a local goldmine. Barely 20, the budding forward had penetrated Burkina Faso and Morocco defences with relative ease at the Chan tourney in South Africa.
Top clubs were grazing nearby eager to drink from his boot.
Ajax Cape Town immediately got in contact with Vipers owner and reportedly started working on his work papers. However, Congolese side AS Vita pipped the South Africans to Sentamu signature after doing their business shrewdly.
CS Sfaxien of Tunisia would wait for their turn to employ the explosive forward before irresistible moves to Europe – with an in Finland and KF Tirana in Albania – followed.
Quite a remarkable fairytale before fate flipped things over to the other page.
The first chapter on that page details acrimonious fallout with almost all the aforementioned clubs, retarded progress with the national team and a sharp retreat to where it all started – Vipers.
Timely rebirth
The pride of rubbing shoulders with African elite footballers and experimenting with professional football in Europe inevitably blindfolded Sentamu when hell broke loose two years ago.
The social attractions that come with his ‘celebrity status’ almost cost him his career as he took a lengthy sabbatical.His second bite at the cherry only came in late January this year when Vipers extended him an olive branch.
Just days after his signing, Sentamu was at hand to show his crave for redemption, netting a brace in the 7-0 demolition of Myda at St Mary’s Stadium-Kitende.
Then club coach Fred Kajoba was quick to witness Sentamu’s improved work ethic, desire to lead others and desire to bury a bruised ego.
Quick observers noted Sentamu would flourish because he was now ‘mature’, understood most of his teammates most of who he had played with at St Mary’s SS-Kitende and knew the Uganda Premier League well.
“When he returned, I took upon myself to guide him to see that he regained focus. We played together at school (Kitende) in 2013 and won several trophies like the East African football trophy in Burundi,” revealed midfielder Paul Mucureezi.
Like Sentamu who topped the league scoring charts with 16 goals in the last campaign, Mucureezi, formerly with KCCA and Mbarara City, also had a mini renaissance, netting 11 goals as Vipers finished third.
“We coordinated well with Sentamu and I remind him that he is not too old to go back to professional football. Surprisingly, we haven’t seen Sentamu’s full potential,” Mucureezi added.
Mucureezi, born to a reverend, equipped with a degree in procurement and who walked down the aisle with his partner, cuts a mentor figure at Kitende that has worked hard to change colleagues’ attitude.
One journalist who bore the brunt of Sentamu’s youthful stubbornness is now quick to admit that the lad is “no longer abusive, listens to any piece of advice and doubles down on his training regime.”
“One time I was interviewing Faruku Miya (Uganda Cranes forward) at Lugogo after training when Sentamu came and pulled him away ‘not to waste his time with the media,’” said the journalist who preferred anonymity in order to speak freely.
“I’m impressed he now understands the value of the media in making and breaking a player’s career.”
Here for atonement
As he received his golden boot and accompanying Shs1m cash prize, it was visible Sentamu was more than ready to make up for the lost time.
“Football is teamwork. I could not manage to score and become top scorer alone. Right from the team management that granted me a second chance to play at the club, the coaches, my fellow teammates, club staff and the fans, I’m humbled for their work and contribution,” he told Score.
His splendid display with the Venoms also earned him a national team recall just when many thought he had miserably failed to fill the boots left behind by Geoffrey Massa.
He is not in a rush to jump to any professional deal thrown around but ready to move at the right time, right price and the right move.
“I’m still at Vipers but who knows what the future can bring. It is only Allah,” he said.
What a drastic change life can bring.
Columnist Moses Banturaki on Sentamu’s potential
Author, Mr Moses Banturaki. PHOTO/FILE.
Some believed the goalkeeper turned striker was an opinionated footballer, a lad whose head had already been turned by the relative privilege associated with coming through Kitende the school or Viper the football team. While many others thought he was the very personification of football genius.
I can confidently say Yunus Sentamu has not fulfilled even half of the potential he once possessed...We probably will never know whether he was beaten into a corner by unforgiving burdens of expectation or that self-discipline failed him.
Either way he seems to have travelled the path and suffered the fate of many Uganda prospects – that of great promise and pitiful underachievement.
At a glance
Full Name: Yunus Sentamu
Nationality: Ugandan
Born: August 13, 1994
Place: Kasese
Age: 26 years
Position: Forward
Weight: 75kgs
Height: 1.78m
Jersey No: 12
Joined: Jan 28, 2021
Contract: June 30, 2023
Agent: Sportback
Former Clubs
2014 – January 2015:- AS Vita (Congo)
2015 – July 2015:- CS Sfaxien (Tunisia)
January – December 2016:- llves (Finland)
2017 – 2019:- KF Tirana (Albania)
Current Team
Vipers
