We Did Go On Strike!

Denis Onyango was spited in Mwanza, the second largest city in Tanzania, turning out for St George where his agility propelled the Ethiopian side to the CECAFA regional club championship and recruited for SuperSport United. He did rot immediately break into the starting XI but had to patiently bide his time, observing and learning from first Wendell Robinson and then Andre Arendse. When Pitso Mosimane, the a man who brought him to Matsatsantsa in the first place, took charge of Mamelodi Sundowns, he brought A; Onyango back from Bidvest Syr Wits where he had been on loan. In this interview with 0 Soccer Laduma's Thomas Kwenaite, the 34-year-old goalkeeper reveals what drives him and keeps him on his toes and how he became undisputed Footballer of the Year based in Africa. The gigantic net minder also shares the secrets behind his success and the man that pushes him to excel in his chosen profession.

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Thomas Kwenaite: In football you win some and lose others, but losing to SuperSport United in the MTN8 semifinal must have been painful.

Denis Onyango: We knew that the away goal we got against them in the first leg would give us an added advantage, but they are a team that is on a high and has been scoring goals in almost every match and so their opening goal really disorganized us and we started chasing the game. And, much as we tried, we just could not break them down and when they scored a second one, it became so much harder for us.

TK: Looking back, what is it that Sundowns did not do well against SuperSport, which you need to correct going forward?

DO: I think we didn’t play very well as a team and they took their chances. Our plan was to initially frustrate them by keeping the ball for as long as we could and while we managed to do that, we could not convert the chances we created whilst they got an early goal, which really disorganized us.

TK: Getting back to the domestic league after the disappointment of the MTN Cup, it was an important win against Maritzburg United.

DO: Yes, the game against Maritz burg was also a very difficult game considering that we had just lost to SuperSport in the cup and so we had no choice but to win. But, of course, the winning goal came at the referee’s added time, but we kept on fighting and believing that the goal was coming and hence we were rewarded in the end. It was a good win for us as it helped us move up the log table and approach the Champions League game in highs spirits.

TK: You’ve reached the last round of the CAF Champions League (before the group stages), after simply cruising past AS Otoho d’Oyo.