Sunguti, Mwalala and Lingaya were foreign imports who changed the tide of giants here

A number of foreign footballers have played in Ugandan topflight or Ugandan clubs and some for even the Cranes team. Notable among these are Congolese-born Zazak Lingaya, and Kenyan strikers Maurice Sunguti and Bernard Mwalala. Both played for SC Villa, with the former also playing for Express, writes Robert Mugagga.

MAURICE SUNGUTI

Sunguti first made his name  in football when donning the famous blue and white colours of Kenya’s record league winners, AFC Leopards.
He is considered among the club’s greatesd players alongside Francis Kadenge, JJ Masiga, Wilberforce Mulamba, Peter Luchungu, Reginald Asibwa and John Busolo.
He left Leopards and crossed the border into Uganda in 1999 to join Express. Sunguti spent two seasons at Wankulukuku without winning a major title. 
His next destination was Red Eagles’ rivals SC Villa.  At Villa Park, Sunguti was part of a formidable side that terrorized the league and won everything.
He won two consecutive league titles with Villa in 2001 and 2002 plus Uganda Cup honours in the latter year.
He scored a 75th minute league goal against Express at Namboole which Express fans disputed and the game was abandoned as teargas and stones filled the airspace. 
Referee Fred Kakooza Mutagubya had stuck to his guns confirming that Sunguti’s goal was indeed genuine. Later, the match was awarded to SC Villa. 
He didn’t stay there for long and soon headed home to Kenya, joining Tusker. He hardly played a season with the Brewers when a Swedish club Friska Vijor spotted and signed him.
Sunguti was at Friska between 2003 and 2005. In 2006 Nam Dinh of Vietnam came calling and he went to the Far East.
A nomad, in 2007, he returned to Africa and joined Yanga of Tanzania. There, he won two consecutive league titles and thus checking on the dominance of rivals Simba. Yanga dropped him in 2009, rendering him a free agent. For Kenya, Sunguti played for the Harambee Stars between 1997 and 2005. His first cap came when he was just 19 on July 18, 1998.
This was a World Cup qualifier against Burkina Faso away in Ouagadougou.
Among his colleagues for Kenya were Mike Okoth, Duncan Ochieng, Andrew Oyombe, Tom Juma, Moses Gikenyi, Phillip Opio, Denis Oliech, Robert Mambo, Titus Mulama and Adam Shaban Together, they qualified for the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations under coach Jacob “Ghost” Mulee.
Kenya finished third in their group behind Mali, Senegal and Burkina Faso. He was also part of the Harambee Stars team at Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup tournaments of 1999, 2001 and 2003. 
Sunguti registered 32 caps for Kenya and scored 14 goals. His last match for Kenya was played in 2005 and ended in a 2-2 draw against Ghana. He retired from the national team aged 27.  
After retiring, Sunguti decided to give back to soccer by founding a soccer academy he named Syokimau soccer academy..

Sunguti fact file 
Date of birth: October 6, 1977
Height: 1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position: Striker

Teams
1995–1997: AFC Leopards
1999–2000: Express              
2001–2002: SC Villa              
2003: Tusker                
2003–2005: Friska Viljor        
2006–2007: Nam Định           
2007–2009: Young Africans  

BERNAD MWALALA

Mwalala is one of the sharpest foreign strikers to ever play in the Ugandan league. Before moving here from Kenya, he originally played for Nzoia Sugar between 2001 and 2002.

At the beginning of the 2003 season, Mwalala was signed by SC Villa and won the 2003 and 2004 league titles.
Did you know that SC Villa last won the Ugandan league in 2004 when Benard Mwalala was still with the club? 

That side had Denis Onyango, Hannington Kalyesubula, Andy Mwesigwa, Timothy Batabaire, Robert Tumusiime, Phillip Obwin, Edgar Watson, Simon Masaba, Hakim Magumba, Nathan Mutenza, Joseph Kabagambe, Phillip Ssozi, Augustine Nsumba and Morley Byekwaso.

Mwalala’s best moment with SC Villa definitely came in 2005 when he helped them win the Cecafa Kagame Cup in Tanzania. He won the golden boot too, netting six times.

Under the guidance of coach Sam Timbe, Villa beat Rwanda’s APR 3-0 in the final. He was part of Villa’s attacking trio that also had Robert Ssentongo and Dan Wagaluka.

After Ssentongo had opened the scoring, Mwalala got the second goal when he outpaced APR defender Hamis Yusuf before beating keeper Aime Ndizeye with a low shot from inside the area.

Mwalala wrapped up things for Villa in stoppage time finding the target from a low left wing cross swung in by Caesar Ssempijja. 

Earlier on, he scored the lone goal for Villa in the opening match against Simba and later a hat trick against Elman of Somalia.

In January 2006, Mwalala left Villa for Young Africans of Tanzania where he had a short spell before being signed by Rayon Sport of Rwanda.

Malaysian dreams 

A year later, he was on the move again, Malaysian club Porm FA took him on but midway in the season he returned to Yanga and stayed there until 2009. He would then return to Uganda in 2010, rejoining Villa. By now, Mwalala was different from the agile player of five years prior. With the second coming not impressive, he moved to Tanzania’s Coastal Uniuon in 2011.

A hip injury brought a premature end to the 28-year old’s career. “I thought it was just a normal injury which would heal within a short period, but it turned out to be the one that would end my career,” Mwalala told KweséESPN.

From then on, Mwalala has been coaching at several clubs. Widely acclaimed, he has coached Kenyan side Bandari and Nzoia Sugar.
After numerous visits to hospital, he was advised to undergo surgery, which he declined, and ultimately decided to hang up his boots.

“I didn’t see that coming,” he continued. “I believed that it was a minor problem, when I was advised to undergo a hip replacement procedure I decided it was time to end my playing career.”

Previously an explosive striker with excellent finishing instincts, Mwalala’s 12-year playing career-which had included stints in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Malaysia and Oman - was over.

When he called time on his career, the Kenya international hadn’t countenanced a future as a coach, and was still household name in Tanzanian football after winning two league titles in 2006 and 2007 with Yanga.

In his first season as Nzoia boss, the Millers finished fifth in the National Super League (NSL) and the following season they returned to the Kenyan Premier League after finishing top in NSL with 92 points from 38 games, nine ahead of second-placed Kariobangi Sharks.

Following his stints in Magomeni, Muweza, Coastal Union, Nzoia Sugar and now Bandari, Mwalala’s career has grown in stature.

The injury that forced him to hang up his boots is now a distant memory, and the youngster is fast becoming one of Africa’s coaches to watch.

Mwalala at a glance 

• Played for SC Villa, Yanga (Tanzania) and Rayon Sport (Rwanda)
• Helped Villa win the 2005 Cecafa Kagame Cup
• He was top scorer at the 2005 Cecafa Kagame Cup
• Won two league titles at Yanga in 200
• 6 and 2007
• Post-retirement, Mwalala has coached Bandari and Nzoia Sugar
• Led Bandari to the Kenya Cup in 2012

ZAZAK LINGAYA 

From the beginning it looked likely that Express would sign Lingaya, an enterprising midfielder-cum-striker.

Once upon a time, Lingaya and two other Congolese players, then playing for Arua Young went to Wankulukuku to face Express in a league match which the visiting minnows won convincingly.

This was 1992 and Lingaya had a good game. He was a find. It was unthinkable that Express could accommodate him in a team that had Kefa Kisala, Richard Kirumira, Joseph Mutyaba, Gerald Tenywa, Simon Kyobe and George Ssemogerere but had finished fourth the previous season.

Express moved quickly to sign Lingaya along with Fred Tamale, Abu Kigenyi and Andrew Arinaitwe.

The dividends came quickly as Lingaya was part of the 1993 Express team that that made history by going all the way to win the league title for the first time in 18 years (1975).

In 1995, Lingaya was again at large when Express won a double and was also instrumental in taking the Red Eagles to the semifinals of the Caf Champions League, then referred to as the African Cup for Champions clubs. 

The quarter finals had pitted Express against Dynamo Harare of Zimbabwe. In the first leg at Nakivubo, the visitors carried the day, winning 1-0.

During the return leg in Harare which had proved a bad hunting place for visiting teams, Express won 2-1 to go through on the away goals rule.

Express’s first goal in Harare was scored by Lingaya and that is what ignited fire in coach Jimmy Muguwa’s team who had replaced David Otti, the latter moving to SC Villa.

The biggest memory that many have of Lingaya is an incident during the 1997 season. 

Express hosted Villa in a league match at Wankulukuku. Lingaya scored a beautiful goal in the second half with many Express fans seeing it as being the crucial winner.

To the shock of the home fans, the referee in charge of the game cancelled it. This forced the Express fans led by their manager Kassim Buyondo to go on rampage.

Buyondo led by example and stormed the pitch and grabbed the referee by the neck with fans following suit by throwing stones and whatever they could pick. Police retariated by firing teargas and live bullets in order to restore order. The second deputy Prime Minister, Brig. Moses Ali a football fan, was seen crawling on his stomach to escape.

A stone hit Villa coach Otti on the head and substitute goalkeeper Ibrahim Mugisha and the team doctor were seen wiping blood out of the old man’s grey hair with a towel.

The game was aborted and the two sides shared the spoils. The second round at Nakivubo ended 0-0, though Villa had a lot of territorial dominance in that fixture.

Post-football, Lingaya went quiet until 2009 when the Uganda ex-international football association team played against Congolese players at Nakivubo.

The Congolese were headed by Lingaya who is a successful businessman and evangelist.

Lingaya fact file

• Lingaya joined Express in 1992 from Arua Yiung
• Won the league title at Express in 1993, a first in 18 years
• Won the league and cup at Express in 1995
• He is not known to have played for any other team after Express
• He left football quietly and went into business.