How Onyango inspired compatriot Magoola
Richards Bay keeper enjoying first PSL season
Richards Bay goalkeeper Salim Magoola has opened up about the influence of his countryman Denis Onyango in his own football career.
The 27-year-old Magoola first arrived in SA to join Motsepe Foundation Championship outfit Pretoria Callies in October 2021. The Ugandan shot-stopper joined Bay from Callies at the start of the current campaign.
“Onyango has not played a role only in my career but he’s a role model to almost every player in Uganda. There was a time where things weren’t going well for him here in SA... when he left SuperSport [in 2010] he joined Aces and he wasn’t getting game time. He persevered until things came together and that taught me that in life you must be patient,” Magoola told Sowetan in a wide-ranging interview.
“When I came to Callies he told me that I must work hard and I will get a Premiership move... that gave me courage and the rest is history. He’s a good example to all of us in Uganda... an epitome of hard work.”
Magoola may be in his first season in the South African top-flight but he is a seasoned campaigner, having tasted CAF Champions League football during his stints with Sudanese giants Al-Merrick and Al-Hilal. The Ugandan international played for Al-Merrick between 2014 and 2018 before spending the next four years at Al-Hilal.
“I spent seven years in Sudan, playing in the Champions League as well. That made things a little bit easier for me to adapt to life in the PSL. The experience I gained over the years in Sudan has played a huge role in my career... I am the keeper I am today because of that experience,” said Magoola, who boasts 35 Champions League appearances for both Al-Merrick and Al-Hilal.
Magoola is odds-on to start when Natal Rich Boyz host Kaizer Chiefs in a Dstv Premiership encounter at King Zwelithini Stadium on Saturday (3.30pm).
Fixtures
Friday: Swallows v Pirates, Dobsonville (7.30pm).
Saturday: Bay v Chiefs, King Zwelithini (3.30pm); Royal v Sekhukhune, Chatsworth (5.45pm); Maritzburg v CPT City, Harry Gwala (8pm).
Sunday: Chippa v AmaZulu, Nelson Mandela Bay (3.30pm); Marumo v Galaxy, Free State (3.30pm); Stellenbosch v Sundowns, Danie Craven (3.30pm); SuperSport v Arrows, Lucas Moripe (5.45pm).