Uganda Cranes and Onduparaka FC forward Muhammad Shaban opines that he has learnt from his mistakes in Morocco and is ready to go again.Shaban is currently in camp with the Uganda Cranes in Tunisia as they prepare for their qualifying opening match against Algeria on Saturday but it has taken so much to have him back in the national team fold, his old club Onduparaka FC coming in handy as his exploits in the concluded season saw him handed a call-up.7.00 Team Thoren 4.70 Umea 1.35The 24-year-old saw a fast rise in his career as he joined KCCA from Onduparaka FC and then moved to Morocco’s Raja Casablanca shortly after but his stay with the North African side was not as productive as he thought or anticipated it would have been.Growing up, all I dreamt of was playing football. From kicking a ball around with my mates to crossing borders, returning back home with lots of challenges at the start. Happy for the national team call up.Nothing on earth would stop me from representing my country.#TB Pic pic.twitter.com/LuqCNoputT— Muhammad Shaban (@MoShabanJ) May 23, 2022 His stay in north Africa was unsuccessful, topped up with a nasty injury alongside other challenges that saw him force a move back to Uganda in an attempt to ‘rebuild’ himself, an action that he now acknowledges was not thought through, adding that he is more mature at the moment.‘I am a changed man because when I went to Morocco I had not yet matured, but at least now I am a different Shaban. I have learnt a lot, so any deal which comes through, I will make sure that I do not repeat the mistakes. You know those deals come with a lot of challenges; you become homesick, new food, different weather, but I was not patient enough. The injury frustrated me even though the team wanted me to stay but I had to request for my release to come back home and rebuild myself,” Shaban is quoted saying on FUFA’s portal.Join us in Congratulating Muhammad Shaban after being summoned to represent Uganda 🇺🇬 in the upcoming AFCON 2023 qualifiers against Algeria 🇩🇿 away on June 4th and Niger 🇳🇪 at home on 8th June 2022. pic.twitter.com/dwrG8MprFx— #ORIYO! (@OnduparakaFC1) May 23, 2022 According to Shaban, the injury suffered in Morocco was the main challenge during his stay in North Africa but the pressure at Vipers SC when he went back did not help the situation either until Onduparaka FC came calling again.”There were challenges. What affected me mostly in Morocco was the injury and that is the major reason I had to come back to Uganda to rebuild myself so that I can go elsewhere. I joined Vipers SC when I was still injured then they took me to surgery. I was not feeling fine but you know Vipers SC is a big club that comes with the pressure of winning trophies. They could not wait. I had to talk to the club chairman and the club President to release me so that I can go and start afresh. I went home and the people in Arua were also waiting for me to go back to reunite for a new start to work together again. I embraced the return, and started scoring though at first things did not work out well according to plan but I knew I would improve,” he added.The @UgandaCranes team training ahead of #AFCON2023Q pic.twitter.com/iRdMmMy2nL— FUFA (@OfficialFUFA) May 30, 2022 Meanwhile, Uganda Cranes warmed up for their first 2023 AFCON Qualifiers match with a 8-1 win over Tunisian side Hammam Sousse FC in a build-up match.Farouk Miya scored a hat-trick, with Allan Okello and Hakim Kiwanuka bagging a brace each while Martin Kizza scored the other goal in a match that coach Milutin Micho Sredejovic used to assess his players ahead of the weekend clash.Further, Uganda have been boosted by the arrival of Bellagambi Giousue (Huddersfield Town, England), Kayondo Aziz (Real Monarchs, USA), Mugabi Bevis (Motherwell, Scotland), Serwadda Stephen (New York Red Bulls USA), Elvis Bwomono (IBV, Iceland), and Derrick Kakooza (Valmiera, Latvia).
