Okwi, another case of unfulfilled potential

Okwi had long been fazed out of the national team with one of his long time backers in former Cranes coach Micho Sredojevic having also deemed him not good enough for a summon for the final Afcon qualification game of the 2023 failed campaign, a 2-0 away win against Niger.

Before that, Okwi had worn the armband on June 18, 2023, when Uganda lost 2-1 to Algeria in the 2023 Afcon Qualifiers.

The game would prove to be his last in national team colours, two years after Abdallah Mubiru handed him the captaincy role following the retirement of goalkeeper Dennis Onyango.

In that period, Okwi hardly endeared himself to Cranes fans putting in several listless performances as the Cranes failed at two Afcon qualification campaigns.

Some of the biggest criticism was often directed at him as captain but also because of the immense talent everyone knew he possessed

 But there was a growing realisation too that he was never going to fulfill the potential he showed as he broke out at SC Villa and in making his Cranes debut in 2009 and thereafter scoring in the 2-0 win over Rwanda that clinched that year's Cecafa title.

Like the world has been reminded this week, Okwi hangs up his international boots with 28 goals in 95 appearances.  

The tally is the highest of any Cranes player over the last two decades.

Consequently, there is a genuinely strong school of thought that Okwi is the most talented forward Uganda has produced over the past two decades.
You cannot attract interest from regular European football club participants like Austrian club Red Bull Salzburg, play at Danish side SonderjyskE Fodbold and be treated like a king Tanzanian club Simba, play for rivals Yanga and be a player without considerable talent.

At his best, Okwi was unplayable. Blessed with pace and a considerable footballing brain, Okwi had the ability to beat his marker with both feet when cutting in on either flank.

Predominantly right footed, one of his standout moments in national team colours came in a 2018 World Cup qualifier where he cut in from the right, faked a shot, before powering the ball in with a strong left footed low drive to clinch a 1-0 win over a Mohammad Salah-led Egypt at Namboole in 2017.

His most prominent role for the Cranes would however arrive at the 2019 Afcon edition where he scored twice to guide the Cranes to a last 16 slot where they bowed out to Senegal at the round of 16.

He scored a vital second goal with a header in the 2-0 win over DR Congo and also gave the Cranes the lead with a tap-in for the 1-all draw against Zimbabwe that helped the Cranes progress to the knockout stage of the 2019 Afcon edition.

Prior to that and as detailed by online publication Kawowo this week, Okwi will also be remembered for the double he scored in the 2019 Afcon qualification campaign  as Uganda secured a 3-0 win over Lesotho at Mandela National Stadium.

Those goals however arrived after another of several mini revivals Okwi has staged over his career.

These included two further stints at Villa in 2013 and 2018, the last of which was a devastating 10 goal collection in 13 games.

"These days we are always  talking about the technical, tactical and physical aspect of the game. But we have not been considering the holistic factor. Emma is someone who is holistic in the way he manages himself with the team and fellow players.  He is someone who feels on the pitch that he is representing the team, the fans, the technical team and bosses.  So he gives everything for the good of the bosses," stated coach Mubiru when speaking to CK Sports when interviewed about Okwi this week.

That however seemed to represent the other version of Okwi with the player himself admitting in a 2014 interview with colleague Andrew Mwanguhya and the Daily Monitor that he could have done better with his decision making when presented with deals at Red Bull Salzburg and Tunisian Giants Etiole Du Sahel.

Okwi got opportunities to do trials at Parma and Chievo in Italy through links created by former Villa and Cranes boss Micho Sredojevic that he somehow never got hold of.

There was even another opportunity for him to play in Israel, which he never warmed up to. In July 2011, he stood up a chance to do a second round of trials at Kaizer Chiefs in South Africa.

Austria tell tale

Then in July 2012, another chance from Europe presented itself and behold - Okwi went for trials to Red Bull Salzburg, Ibrahim Sekagya’s team at the time, in Austria. Tales are told of how his whining about being homesick cost him what could have been a breakthrough move.

“Some German agent asked Sekagya about me and he said good things about me, “that’s how I went to Austria he revealed”.

“But I think I have a problem when I travel. I think change of weather affects me a lot because even when I went for Cecafa in Nairobi in December 2013, I fell sick with malaria,” he said at the time.

“I went for training weak and their training was very intense. You have got to be in perfect health to live with them.

“After training, I told the agent that no, I can’t do this anymore. That night, I called my mum and told her, ‘mum, I’ve giving up this chance because my health and body have failed me. Maybe God will give me another one.

“She encouraged me to give it one more try but I couldn’t fight anymore. I had made my decision now. I woke up the next morning and just told my agent to get me a ticket back home.” And that was it. The End.

A similar tale is told of his time for a another big money to Tunisia’s Etoile du Sahel that was flipped while at Tanzanian giants Simba in 2013.

Out of the six games Okwi played for du Sahel, only twice did he start. “I scored one goal and had an assist in the other game. But I just wasn’t feeling myself… I wasn’t feeling part of Etoile du Sahel.

"I just felt like I had never played football before. Actually I made up my mind of not going back to du Sahel.

The two stints  seem to sum up Okwi's career that will also always be remembered for him missing the 2017 Cranes Afcon return after a 39 year absence.

The coach (Micho) gave me my chances, and I did not take them. In addition, I was not playing at my club (SonderjyskE Fodbold) in Denmark then, so, there was no way the coach was going to pick me. It was all my fault,” Okwi told the Observer in a 2018 interview.

He has since returned to Rwanda where he has scored six goals for AS Kigali in the league this season and showing flashes of his old self. 

His career however will always portray the outlook of a career of what might have been.

Year Apps Goals

2009: 7 games 1 goal 

2010: 6 (4)

2011: 6 (5)

2012: 12 (3)

2013: 10 (5)

2014: 5 (0)

2015: 0 (0)

2016: 6 (0)

2017: 8 (1)

2018: 8 (2)

2019: 11 (5)

2020: 2 (0)

2021: 6 (0)

2022: 4 (2)

2023: 4 (0)

Total: 95 (28)

Okwi’s national team competitive goals: 22

Distribution: 3 goals in World Cup qualifiers, 2 in Afcon finals tournament, 4 in Afcon qualifiers, and 13 in Cecafa

Competitive goals broken down

2018 Fifa WC qualifiers: 1 goal versus Egypt. Ended 1-0

2014 Fifa WC qualifiers: 1 goal in 2-1 win over Angola

2014 Fifa WC qualifiers: 1 goal in Angola. Ended 1-1

Egypt Afcon 2019 finals: 1 goal in 2-0 win over DRC, 1 goal in 1-1 draw with Zimbabwe

2021 Afcon qualifiers: 1 goal in 2-0 win over Malawi

2019 Afcon qualifiers: 2 goals in 3-0 win over Lesotho

2013 Afcon qualifiers: 1 goal in 4-0 win over Congo

Cecafa Cup: 13 goals (Cecafa 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013)