The highly decorated retired striker chose to stand on the ball even with the opponents well beaten during the 1999 All-Africa Games
Former Uganda international Andrew Mukasa has explained why he did not score against Cameroon during the semi-final match of the 1999 All-Africa Games in Johannesburg, South Africa.
During the game, Mukasa was put through by Jamil Kyambadde after beating the Cameroonians defenders but the former chose to stand on the ball instead of putting it in the back of the net.
Mukasa was forced to retire after he suffered mental problems which ended an otherwise stellar career.
“I did it intentionally without having mental problems,” Mukasa said as he was quoted by New Vision.
“This was because I earlier had a misunderstanding between the team managers and [Ibrahim] Sekagya. In fact, with Sekagya we quarrelled and also fought. However, I regret why I did that.”
Mukasa’s teammate at the time, Mathias Lule, said the striker did not want to score even with shouts from other players after the Cameroonian goalkeeper was well beaten.
“At half-time, when we rebuked him, he told us ‘it’s because of my goals that you are here. So, it’s up to me to score or not,’” Lule said during an earlier interview with Daily Monitor.
Mukasa had scored against Eritrea and Zambia to help the Junior Cranes qualify for the tournament.
Mukasa went on to urge the upcoming players to take their careers with the seriousness it deserves.
“There are so many players in the country that are talented and play well. In fact, I have also managed to train with some of them,” he explained.
“But they have to take football as a sport that is easy to do. However, the sport will be easy for you so long as you train and stay committed and determined in what you do.”
Mukasa has been battling a mental problem for long but in June he confirmed his situation was improving unlike how it was before.
He added that he needed money to buy medicine, clothes and a small phone as he stays with his mother at Wakaliga.
Mukasa won Premier League titles in 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001 with SC Villa and also lifted the Uganda Cup trophies twice with the same club. He won Uganda's Player of the Year in 1999.
It was during the 1996 season that Mukasa earned his nickname ‘Fimbo’ meaning a cane as he scored 36 goals. He broke the record of 32 season goals that had been set by Jimmy Kirunda in 1978.
In the 1999 season, the forward set a record when he scored 45 goals before he was voted the footballer of the year in Uganda.