Cranes’ struggles in goal indicative of bigger issue

If there is one thing that can be said with swaggering certainty about Ugandan football it is that over the years a hulking presence between the sticks has easily been the norm.

From Jamil Kasirye running Paul Ssali scared in the ‘70s to the little that there was to choose between Hussein Ssali and Sam Kawalya in the 2000s, the goalkeeping department has hardly been a pain point. 

Yet in the post-Denis Onyango era it is an enormous mistake to insist—as some continue to do—that the situation has not taken a dramatic turn for the worse.

This rather grim outlook is a carryover from the club level where teams continue to beat a hasty retreat with home-grown goalkeeping talents despite taking a methodical approach to their ambitions. The devastation wrought on SC Villa has especially been more pronounced.

The precarity of the situation has also driven many interested parties at the international level to despair. The recently ended international break illuminated the scale at which things are sinking steadily deeper into turmoil.

The half dozen goals shipped during matches against Comoros and Ghana told their own story. The theme of the aforementioned story is that life after Onyango keeps edging daringly close to being something of a disaster.

To be clear, replacing Onyango, a colossus between the sticks for the Cranes for nearly two decades, has gone precisely the way many observers feared—bad. With Robert Odongkara—who was for the most part propped up as Onyango's understudy—now spoken of in the past tense, it has fallen to two South African-based netminders to audition for the proverbial No.1 jersey. 

After Salim Jamal Magoola put in a couple of underwhelming performances, including dropping clangers against Algeria and Guinea, Ismail Watenga got his chance to impress during a 1-0 win over 10-man Somalia.

Despite keeping a much-needed clean sheet, the jury is still out on the vastly talented Golden Arrows goalkeeper whose maturity has at times been called into question.

It is safe to say that if Tom Ikara wanted to steal a march on both Watenga and Magoola, during the recent international break, the towering Bul FC custodian did himself more appalling harm than great good. His performance in the 4-0 loss suffered at the hands of Comoros particularly left a lot to be desired.

Unlike Onyango whose stint as an outfield player made it that much easier to play a sweeper-keeper role, the current breed of Ugandan netminders have such a torrid time with the ball at their feet.

The second goal Ikara conceded against Comoros spotlights this Achilles heel. The Bul FC goalkeeper also struggled to command his box during the 2-2 draw with Ghana.

All of this means that Paul Put will head into the next phase of the 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers none the wiser about who his No.1 really is.

This, high priests of the beautiful game will tell you, is hardly reassuring. If there is one position in the starting XI that should not be tinkered and fussed obsessively with, it is the one of a custodian. 

Yet here we are with no strong indication whatsoever as to who our undisputed No.1 is. As noted earlier, goalkeepers who were Onyango's understudies (i.e. Odongkara and Charles Lukwago) remarkably vanished from the Cranes’ radar with no trace. That this happened is a damning indictment in itself and speaks volumes about how Fufa handles transitions—rather gingerly.

Going forward, increased scrutiny, often with an almost possessive undertone, will be the order of the day when the Cranes’ goalkeeping position comes up for debate.

Discussions will have an air of desperation to them, with participants undoubtedly finding it impossible to resist the temptation of fearing for the worst.

The older ones who have previously watched the country boast an abundance of goalkeepers will not help but wonder where exactly things went wrong.

The bitter truth, though, is that the tenuousness around Uganda’s goalkeeping situation is a microcosm of the poor health of Ugandan football. Everything seems to happen in fits and starts.