Representing a person’s country of origin is one of the greatest moments of any football player’s careers and any player would wish to hold that experience at one point in their career.
Pictures of players donning their national colours fill social media during designated international breaks and international tournaments. With captions that spell how much they treasure such moments.
One player who is yet to savor the moment of the national anthem play in the background as he sings along in wait of kickoff, is Nelson Senkatuka.
Despite being one of the more consistent strikers in the land, Senkatuka still plays a peripheral role on the national team, and has often been overlooked for selection.
Many have argued that the performances his had for Bright Stars don’t reflect properly on his abilities over his competitors that play for KCCA or Vipers.
And with the 22-year-old completing his move to Moroccan top-flight side Moghreb Tétouan on a three-year deal, many of his advocates feel that he will have a better stake for inclusion on the Cranes team, but that depends on his performance at his new home.
However, in the recently concluded transfer window, there has been increased interest in Ugandan players especially forwards by north African clubs most especially in Egypt and Morocco. KCCA FC striker Patrick Kaddu joined RS Berkane, Emmanuel Okwi joined Al Itihad, Abdu Lumala moved to Pyramids FC, while Allan Kyambadde joined El Gouna with Milton Kariisa staying on at MC Oudja.
Apart from Senkatuka, a bulk of the players that joined the north African band wagon, represented Uganda at the recently concluded 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt which could have played as an exhibition platform for them.
For Senkatuka its different. His recent goal scoring exploits in the Uganda Premier League have been largely responsible for Moghreb to head hunt him.
49 goals in four seasons is no mean feat, and in the league like ours where we average two goals per game, it is hard to find a rather consistent goal source.
History suggests that moves abroad have worked well for many players and often times, playing in a foreign country justifies a player’s inclusion without questions about his performances of wherever he plies his trade.
Senkatuka’s goal Story
The talisman who began his career at Hope Doves FC in Kampala has defined himself as one of the sharpest Ugandan players in front of goal carrying a combined tally of 49 club goals onto his name in the past four Uganda Premier League seasons.
He played for Erith, Belvedere FC, Cranes United FC in England, before joining KCCA FC in 2015 lasting only a single season scoring four goals, before he later joined Proline FC in the 2016/2017 season.
While at Proline, Senkatuka scored eleven goals but they couldn’t help his club to survive relegation. With Proline relegated to the Big League, he crossed to Bright Stars where he has grown from strength to strength.
In his first season at Bright Stars in 2017/2018, he scored 18 league goals finishing runners up to top scorer Geoffrey Sserunkuma who had scored 21 goals.
Senkatuka was at it again last season, though he scored less than his 2018 tally, he still chipped with 16 league goals only behind then Police FC’s Juma Balinya who scored 19 goals.
One Response
Unless he works hard and gets a bit of luck ts a waste of tym…