URA striker Steven Mukwala is still grateful for the opportunity he was granted to make his senior national team debut and can not afford to be scrapped off the next list.
The striker was brought in for captain Emmanuel Okwi after an hour played at the Orlando Stadium in Soweto in the 3-2 international friendly loss to Bafana Bafana of South Africa on Tuesday.
“It was remarkable and very honourable for me to wear the national team colours and have a good game,” the forward told Ndibba
For the striker, not only was it a glorious moment and but also very encouraging to play with the team captain he used to only watch on TV while growing up.
“I have learnt a lot on the national team already. Hanging out with senior players like Emmanuel Okwi and other players who have always inspired me is enough motivation,” Mukwala expressed.
“When the coach Abdallah Mubiru called upon me to come on, I knew it was my time to prove a point by justifying my call to the national team and also impress to stay. That is why I came in and I was hungry to score goals,” the forward said.
Several forwards were initially summoned for the friendly but eventually left out including UPL top scorer Yunus Ssentamu who shockingly did not make the final list.
“Of course like any other player, playing for the national team is an ultimate goal, but I guess I wanted it even more so I could not take anything for granted,” Mukwala said, attributing his selection to his impressive work rate.
Mukwala explains that him being left out at first to be later on called was a daunting task for him to make an impact.
He started scoring as many goals from the very first day he trained with the national senior side at Lugogo.
Mukwala wants to build on that to become a regular on the national team by working harder as a player.
“My first job is to score jobs for the team to win. I want to keep scoring goals every season, everywhere to maintain my stay in the national team set up.
As URA returns to UPL action on Saturday against Busoga United in Jinja, Mukwala who has so far been involved in 20 goals in 24 league appearances this season wants to immediately start where he stopped going into the break.
The tax collectors’ number nine set himself a target of 20 or more goals this season and has so far managed 14. With 4 more games to go before the end of the season, Mukwala’s target is still attainable.
