Obote, Mudde and Musoke were box-to-box midfielders

DAN OBOTE

When he had just taken over as SC Villa coach in early 2000,  Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojević preferred signing talented but unknown young players rather than buying already established ones from other clubs. 
He signed Dan Obote alongside custodian Denis Onyango, Dan Wagaluka, Patrick Ochan, Andy Mwesigwa, Emmanuel Balyejusa and Steven Nsereko. 

Obote was part of the SC Villa team that won the 2003 Cecafa-Kagame Cup when Uganda hosted the event though he missed almost half the tourney due to injury. In 2004 he was again at Villa Park when Villa won their last  league title thus far. Those were the days when Dan Obote joined other great players to make SC Villa a very formidable side. 

Uganda Premier League coach Pius Ngobo,  who played with Dan Obote in the U-20 youth team during late nineties and briefly at SC Villa remembers Obote to have been a very aggressive player  and hard tackler who would easily win  balls. “ He possessed hard shots that often ended in winning goals. He is an exact replica of players like James Odoch besides being well-known for executing long passes,” said Ngobo.

During his career Obote played for SC Villa, URA, Boroboro United, Rayon Sport of Rwanda before he relocated to the Republic of South Africa where he turned out for Vasco da Gama, FC Cape Town and Ikapa Sporting. At SC Villa, he won two consecutive league titles in 2003 and 2004. The first of the two titles was so memorable for Dan Obote. 

Towards the end of the league, SC Villa and  Express ran neck-to-neck with the same number of points . The league winner was likely to be decided by a better goal difference. SC Villa, which was yet to play Akol was the league’s darkest horse, looked likely to overtake Express by making a good meal out of Akol and overtake Express to win the league. Through their intelligent manager Kassim Buyondo, Express FC  could not take chances and dished out a lot of cash to Akol administrators and players so as not to turn up for the match in Kampala. In this case SC Villa would only be awarded two goals and three points. 

At the same time Villa officials were no fools and too went to the bank and paid the Akol team handsomely in order to make sure they turned up for the match. It was ‘son of the soil’ - Obote who was given the task of going to Lira and to deliver the money to the Akol team. In order to appease both clubs the Akol team that turned up in Kampala was a fake one and had only nine players with others having disappeared at the city suburbs of  Bwaise on the way to Kampala.  

This helped Obote and colleagues to massacre ‘Akol FC’ by a victory margin of 22-1. Fufa could not allow such daylight robberly to take place and cancelled the results and instead awarded SC Villa just two goals and three points. Obote later joined URA where he won the  2006 league title. He also played for Boroboro United helping the club  avoid relegation. He also featured for U-20 Hippos and U-23 Kobs before being promoted to Cranes.

OBOTE FACTFILE                
ACHIEVEMENTS

•  Played for SC Villa, URA and Boroboro United  in Uganda.
• Played for Rayon Sports of Rwanda.
•   Played for Vasco da Gama FC  in Cape Town  and Ikapa Sporting of South Africa.
•  Won the league title with SC Villa in 2003 and 2004.
• Won the Cecafa Kagame Cup with SC Villa in  2003.
• Played for the U-20 and U-23 Uganda youth teams.
• Played for the Cranes 
•  Holds Caf ‘C’  coaching licence
•   Resides in Uganda.

MUSA MUDDE
Known for his displays in the middle of the park, Mudde  was a fans’ darling during his career with the Uganda Cranes. 
The army side Simba ushered him to the Ugandan football scene some years back and he later ended up featuring for top clubs in Kenya and Tanzania before moving on to India where he caused a storm. 

Sofapaka of Kenya signed him from Simba in 2009 and ended up winning the Kenyan Premier League with them. At Sofapaka, Mudde’s style of play won him the hearts of many fans. His last appearance with Sofapaka was the 2-1 league match victory over rivals AFC Leopards that saw him being carried off the pitch after sustaining a serious injury. 
After two and half years with Sofapaka, Mudde joined  Simba of Tanzania where his Cranes teammate Emmanuel Okwi plied his trade. In 2012 while at Simba, Mudde sustained a serious injury that almost brought his career to an end. 

Simba was playing Azam FC in the quarter final of the Cecafa Kagame Cup.
He collided with an opponent leaving his left leg entangled between two defenders’ legs as he landed down in pain. 
In the process, Mudde’s left ankle joint rotated in the opposite side causing a major dislocation. He returned to Uganda where he spent over a month nursing his injuries but with Simba FC meeting all expenses. 

In July 2014, Mudde returned to Kenya and joined AFC Leopards.  Here he is still remembered for scoring a beautiful opening goal for AFC Leopards when they edged Mbeya of Tanzania 2-1 to storm the quarterfinals of  the Nile Basin Tournament held in Sudan. After just a season Mudde  left AFC Leopards during the time when the club faced financial problems. Mudde terminated his contract with AFC Leopards in what he termed the club’s breach of contract. Just after a few weeks Mombasa based Bandari FC grabbed him.  Bandari’s technical director Edwin Oduor praised Mudde for being a high class midfielder. 
“He is a utility player and we expect  him to help us a great deal for the remainder of the season. He is the kind of player we have been looking for and he is the only one we intend to sign,” said Odour. 

In June 2017, Mudde left Bandari and returned to AFC Leopards confirming his enormous value to the giant club. Here he joined fellow Ugandan player Allan Kateregga. He featured there for one season and later left for India joining Gokulam Kerala FC. The club which had been monitoring him for sometime sent him an air ticket and agreed to cater for his welfare, accommodation and medical insurance among others. 

As a skipper, he made history by leading the club to the 2017/18 Kerala Premier League title. In February 2019, Mudde left the club after being signed by another Indian club Sports Academy Tirur (SAT). He said his new club had a great dream and he was the one to make it a reality. 
 In the senior Cranes team, Mudde played under coaches like Bobby Williamson and Micho holding permanent starting roles backed up with consistency. He featured in a number of World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers between 2009 and 2014.

MUDDE FACTFILE
ACHIEVEMENTS

•  Played for Simba in Uganda.
•  Played for  AFC Leopards, Sofapaka and Bandari (Kenya) and Simba of Tanzania.
•  Played for  Gokulam Kerala and SAT in India.
•  Led Gokulam Kerala to the 2017/18 India Premier League title. 
•  Bandari FC of kenya praised him for being a very utility player they were waiting for.
•  Played for the Cranes in many Fifa World Cup and Nations Cup qualifiers.

LAWRENCE MUSOKE
He grew up in the city outskirts of Kawempe. The area groomed many football stars like Ibrahim Sekagya, Abubaker Tabula, Richard Kyambadde, Yusufu Musisi and Matia Lule. 
The area’s  Kayofa Football Academy helped to groom many of such players by organising tournaments and providing players with enough balls and playing boots. 

Later Lawrence Musoke was spotted by Sheikh Jamil Kakeeto and given a bursary to study at his Naggalama Islamic School where he joined ranks with the likes of Sekagya, Tabula, late Wilson Ggayi, Hussein Ssali and Baker Mbowa to turn the school team into a soccer giant literally just overnight. There is no reward for guessing why Musoke had to end up playing for KCCA.  
At one time veteran coach Mike  Mutebi used to coach the Naggalama Islamic School team and he became KCCA coach around the same time . He ended up taking most of these players to Lugogo. 

Besides, the school director Sheikh Jamil Kakeeto was a KCCA supporter, who wisely advised his top footballing students that their type of football suited no club but only KCCA. 
In 1997, Musoke played an integral role in the KCCA team that won the league with a host of other youthful players . These included stars like Ssali, Godfrey Mugisha, Sekagya, Godfrey Ssekweyama, Mohammed Byansi, Mbowa and Morley Byekwaso. 

During that season two coaches managed the club  and these were Mike Mutebi and Tom Lwanga. Musoke was the type of midfielder that excelled in controlling aerial balls, boasted of rare creativity on the pitch and was known for his superb passing range. Besides winning the league, Musoke was in the KCCA team  that clinched the 2004 Uganda Cup after beating Express 3-2 in the post-match penalty shootout.
 
The two teams drew 1-1 during normal time. In the national team, Lawrence Musoke formed a core part of the successful Uganda U-23 Kobs youthful team that surprised many by putting up a stiff battle to qualify for the 1999 All Africa Games in South Africa.
The side went all the way to reach the semi finals. He was at one time  summoned to the Cranes team during the era of Nigerian Harrison Okagbue  as coach though he didn’t last long. The last time we heard of him he was staying in Europe.

MUSOKE FACT FILE  

(ACHIEVEMENTS)

•  Excelled for Naggalama Islamic School in  National Post-Primary Schools competitions.
•  Played for KCCA for a long time.
•  Won the league with  KCCA in 1997.
•  Won the Uganda Cup with KCCA in 2004.
•  Was part of the Uganda U-23 Kobs team that qualified for the 1999 All Africa Games in South Africa.
•  Was part of the U-23 Kobs team that reached the semifinals of the 1999 All Africa Games in South Africa.
•  Was a midfielder that boasted of  excellent aerial balls control.