The revival of NEC FC’s Basangwa

The Stanbic Uganda Cup quarter-final draw last week concluded with some interesting match-ups.

Yet, none was probably as highly billed as the one between the defending champions, Vipers SC and NEC FC on Friday, April 3 at the MTN Omondi stadium, Lugogo. Both NEC and Vipers have not been beaten in the six second round games that have been played in the Uganda Premier League (UPL).

In fact, when they met in Kitende on match-day 17 of the UPL, the game ended 1-1, following a late second half equalizer by NEC. Such has been the fighting spirit of NEC in the second round.

But it has coincided with the acquisition of attacker Richard Basangwa, 24, who joined from Express FC. Despite missing a couple of league games in the second round, following an injury he picked up, Basangwa has been on a wave of revival, which is a stark contrast from what he was three years ago.

“It is true that I am now playing better than I did in the past, when I was younger. But I still know that there is still a lot of room for improvement on my side,” Basangwa said recently.

The attacker, who has so far registered five assists this season in all competitions, and four goals in total said that while every improvement is a milestone in its own right, there is still a lot of work he needs to do in order to become the player many projected him to be.

While turning out for the Vipers Junior team shortly before Covid-19, Basangwa was regarded an emerging top striker because of how he used to torment opponents during his school days at St Mary’s SSS Kitende.

In fact, one time, former KCCA FC coach, Mike Mutebi considered him as one of the next big products from the Kitende youth player line. Basangwa packed a heavy left-foot shot; one that had fans of school football call him netburster.

But at the same time, he possessed a lot of speed and sheer power, which made him a nightmare for many defenders. For those that have watched European football over the years, Basangwa was being compared to Brazil’s forward, Hulk.

There was so much that Basangwa had in common with Hulk, following the description highlighted above. Yet, his breakthrough in the senior team at Vipers turned out to be a stillbirth.

“Well, I cannot tell what happened when I made the Vipers first team. I started off well. But then, later, lost my way. I lost confidence and I was not playing as well as I had hoped to,” Basangwa recalled.

Eventually, because of the tight competition at Vipers, with the likes of Paul Mucureezi and Milton Karisa, the club could not keep him around. By 2022, he was on loan at Gaddafi FC, although even there, things did not work out well for Basangwa.

Yet, because of Basangwa’s attributes, he also left Gaddafi, returned to Vipers en route to Egyptian lower division side, Wadi Degla. Basangwa’s profile clearly preceded him. He was part of Uganda’s under-20 team that won the Cecafa championship in 2020, before playing a part in the same team’s runners-up spot at the Africa Under-20 championship in 2021, Mauritania.

With such a glowing track record, even Cranes coach then, Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic did not resist summoning him, although his caps during the 2022 World Cup and 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers did not bare much fruit.

Basangwa said: “Clearly, I was struggling with my confidence.”

No wonder, after two years, Basangwa left Egypt and returned home. The forward needed a re-set, and there did not seem to be a better place than at Express. But to Basangwa’s benefit, he worked under a coach, Badru Kaddu, who highly rated him from his formative stages.

“There has never been any doubt about how good Basangwa is. All he needed was to have the right attitude towards training, and we would see him blossom,” Kaddu said.

For Basangwa, he cannot praise Kaddu enough. “He is one coach that has given me total support. He has shown belief in me, and because of his good coaching approach, I am confident again; I am enjoying my football now.”

Incidentally, when Kaddu left Express for NEC late last year, it did not take long before he re- united with his former attacker. Together with Rashid Kawawa, Hakim Wandera, and Muhammad Ssenoga, coach Kaddu brought them to NEC FC during the mid-season transfer window.

It has proved an inspired decision. Basangwa scored a brace on his debut for NEC in a 3-1 win over KCCA FC. But to really feel revived, Basangwa has his target on winning the Uganda Cup. He is in no doubt that they have what it takes to do it: First, by knocking out Vipers on Good Friday!

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