Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena has confirmed that goalkeeper Ismail Watenga is still a Masandawana player. He, however added that the custodian has a great path in Dennis Onyango, that he can follow.
About two years back, Watenga was training with Mamelodi, and it was reported that he had signed a three-year contract. Later on, he signed an eighteen months long contract with Chippa United, to the bewilderment of football fans.
“We like Watenga so much and we have tried to invest in him. We sent him out to Chippa to get more playing time,” Rulani was quoted by Football 256.
“He started reasonably well but unfortunately, he did not get much playing time towards the end but I believe that was due to the change of coaches at Chippa which disturbed his momentum a little bit.”
“Watenga is a very good goalkeeper with very good attributes, his agility is excellent, his speed and shot-stopping are very good and maybe he only needs to improve when it comes to build-up play,” he added.
“Watenga’s desire should be to follow in Onyango’s footsteps because he has got a huge potential and hopefully he can be at the club and play.”
Similarities with Onyango’s journey
“As far as Onyango is concerned it took him time to stamp his position at Mamelodi. We all remember that he went to Mpumalanga Black Aces and Bidvest Wits on loan before he came back and became Sundowns’ number one goalkeeper.”
“He came back and he has been very successful and maybe Watenga’s success lies in the journey of Onyango and he will need to pick up a little bit more from what Onyango went through,” Rulani noted.
Watenga was tipped to become Onyango’s successor in the Uganda Crane’s colours when the latter retired but that has not been realized yet.
Despite being of part the Cranes 2022 World Cup qualification campaign, the 27-year-old was more of a bench warmer as Charles Lukwago started most of the games.
He was not part of the Cranes team at the start of their 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers when they lost 2-0 to Algeria and drew 1-1 with Niger.
Courtesy Photos
