Uganda Cranes defender Dennis Iguma was suspended for the definitive 2017 Afcon qualifier against Comoros. By then, Uganda needed a perfect result to arrest an unwanted 38- year jinx.
Several pundits spelt doom and predicted a porous highway on that right flank. Like the tactician he is, and surprisingly, coach Micho picked out Vipers captain Nicholas Wadada to fill the void.
Micho first tried him in a test match against Kenya, the performance was relatively Okay. Wadada went on to stage a man of the match performance as Cranes overcame Comoros on September 3rd.
Cranes and SC Villa legend Paul Mukatabala believes this competition for the position is healthy.
“Both can compete for that (RB) position,” he says “It’s not a bad situation to have right now, two good alternatives!”
Dennis Iguma chases the ball with a Botswana player. The last time he played in the right back position.
Higenyi-Ssemugabi comparison
“A similar situation to Iguma’s happened at SC Villa in 1991,” Mukatabala narrates “Geoffrey Higenyi our regular left back got injured and his replacement, Adam Ssemugabi was so outstanding that when Higenyi recovered from his injury, he could not dislodge Ssemugabi from the Left Back position.”
“So what happened, Higenyi had to switch to Center back where, interestingly, he excelled.”
Wadada has gone on to start in each of the five Cranes matches -two friendlies and two world cup qualifiers- for the Cranes ‘forcing’ Iguma to the sidelines.
“Wadada is doing exceptionally well, it would be unfair to ignore him in that position and more importantly, he is a naturally a right back.”
Iguma started in five of the six Afcon 2017 qualifiers, with one goal assist to Aucho Khalid away in Botswana prior to his suspension.
“Wadada’s comfort when possessing the ball and his ability to supplement in attacks with his overlaps is simply superb! He has a great engine too for timely recovery. Why change that??” Mukatabala poses adding “But I believe Iguma can ably shift to the Centre Back position. I have never felt he (Iguma) was comfortable in that (RB) position.”
Paul Mukatabala is currently an on and off football coach, football pundit/analyst and the CEO of Uganda Football Players Association (UFPA).