Goal Keeper David Wafula aka Fodo was phenomenal as the NBA Shooting Stars beat a resilient Nakawa Boys 4-3 on penalties, to win their maiden trophy of the Slum tournament on second appearance at the Acholi Quarters play ground on Sunday evening.
The duel went to penalties following a two-all draw at 90, with Nakawa coming from two goals down to force the stalemate.
NBA took the lead in the first half despite a slow start, and almost had it sealed with a brilliant out of the box curl in -that went over Nakawa’s custodian into the back of the net- but failed to harness in the lead, conceding two second half goals.
Wafula says he was not only pleased by his personal effort but the team’s as well and that the victory is only a stepping stone to greater wins in the future.
The custodian aspires to play in the National Super League and also to stretch professionally overseas. He admires Police FC’s Davis Mutebi and Manchester United’s David De gea.
Fodo saved Nakawa’s first and later third penalty to keep his side in the lead after his teammate defender Jakisa had levelled the spot goals at 1-1 with an over the bar shot.
The tournament for the first time since its inception saw a new winner with the past editions being dominated by Tigers FC and mainstay finalists Luigi FC who missed out on the finals for the first time, too.
A cow, goat, trophies, medals, and jerseys were the tournament prizes but were spiced up with tokens of appreciation from Ministers Onek and Ogwang who pledged upto 4.5 million shillings to the winners.
The Banda Slums Soccer Tournament happened for the seventh time and is an initiative of the Aliguma foundation to uplift talents from the slums to the world.
The 2023 edition was held on the theme “Ndi Mwana”, which is a cry for the girl Child sensitizing masses on the effects of rape, of which the “ghettos” are the most affected communities in Uganda.
Other winners were Blue Wave who beat Naguru Community 6-0 in the women’s football, Hilton fc who beat AQ select 1-0 in the under 13, and Nobles FC who beat AQ Select 5-4 on penalties in the under 14 final.
A netball match was played as well and Blue wave beat Hiltop 13-4 before the day’s main duel took shape.
