Uganda Cranes and Sports Club Villa Jogoo defender Bernard Muwanga does not live a life of fantasy.
Rather, he prefers the bold reality path to climb the ladder with a calm approach, one streamlined in passion, diligence, commitment and dedication.
The 2015 CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup winning member with the Uganda Cranes in Ethiopia had a rare start in the central defensive department alongside Simba’s Murushid Jjuuko.
Muwanga had played the same role against Ethiopia and Senegal days earlier in the international friendly matches.
He salutes the trust accorded to him by the coaches especially Milutin Sredejovic.
When a coach trusts you and arms you with special instructions, you have to work hard and fulfill.
I exactly did that with the game reading and stopping opponents. We managed a clean sheet and most importantly won the game
Against Cape Verde away from home, the former Bright Stars captain started with Jjuuko in central defense, a department where competition definitely had taken a new toll.
Back in the years, former captain Andrew Mwesigwa, Savio Kabugo, Timothy Awany, Isaac Isinde, Jjuuko, Hassan Wasswa Mawanda and lately Muwanga have been employed to play in the role.
Muwanga believes the recent 90 minutes against Ethiopia, Senegal and Cape Verde are a stepping stone to his national team career.
I will not rest. I have to keep composed and train well.
I am still learning because the learning curve is continuous. I am ready to fight for more playing time on the senior national team
Head coach Micho hailed the performance of Muwanga on the day. He also hinted on the reasons why Muwanga started at central defence and not Mawanda.
Gentleman, first of all, Muwanga has been in the system for a long time. We were with him in the CECAFA 2015 edition in Ethiopia.
He listens and delivers as instructed. Hassan (Mawanda) was just recovering after a month out.
So, I placed him in front of Muwanga and Aucho (Khalid) and it worked
Uganda Cranes now eye the up-coming CHAN 2018 qualifiers against South Sudan in July with the winner set to face either Tanzania or Rwanda.
These will be followed by the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Egypt in Kampala.
