Jimmy Kirunda is a former Uganda Cranes Captain who featured for the team for about 15years. Growing up as youth he admired Germany great Franz Beckenbauer and embraced his playing style. He believes if he had not made it football he would be a Musician. He shared his experience of football with Weinformers as Antonio Kisembo reports. (Weinformers Website-WW and Jimmy Kirunda-JK)
J.K: Jimmy Kirunda is a former National footballer and the Captain of the National team the Cranes, and the chairman of Ex-International players
W.W: Could you please share with us your experience playing football with the national team?
J.K: I started way back playing for the National team in 1969 and ended in 1983. Ten of those years I was the captain of the national team, that is from 1974 to 1983, before I retired voluntarily.
W.W: What was the composition of your team by then?
J.K: There are so many, the team managers was the Late Andrew Wasaka Musoke, David Otti, Ben Omodin, Bidandi Ssali and many others, I worked with so many.
W.W: I can’t believe a player of you caliber, playing for all that long any remembrances?
J.K: My campaign in CAF competitions especially in African Cup of Nations started in 1970 when Uganda played against Zaire now DR Congo in the preliminaries we were beaten 4-1here at Nakivubo and 1-0 in Kishasha and that was my first appearance for the Cranes. Then in 1974, Uganda qualified for the finals which were in Cairo, Egypt, 1976 Uganda again qualified and these were held in Addisa Abbaba, 1978 was when Uganda last qualified where we ended up runners up to hosts Ghana.I also remember when we beat Nigeria in seventy 1978 in semi finals
W.W: Take us through the 1978 campaign. Draw a picture for the Ugandans the 1978 campaign, starting with the stadium you played from.
J.K: I don’t remember the stadium we played from but all I know is it was in Accra. Because we were in Group B, which was in Komasi, our group comprised of Morocco, Tunisia, Congo Brazzaville and obviously us Uganda. It was a tough group because of those two teams Morocco and Tunisia, where Morocco was going to represent Africa in the World cup while Tunisia had just qualified for continental championship. Tunisia managed to beat us 3-1 and we beat Morocco 3-0.
W.W: You played for the National team for quite long; what it mean to play for the Cranes bearing in mind you were a team captain?
J.K :No! To stay long in a team depends on how reacts to the training session, matches, the interest one has; and that’s why some of us were kept in the team for quite a long time. We loved the game.
W.W: What other extra things did you have to do as players of then/your time?
J.K: No No It was the interest of the game for us to play all that time.
W.W: Any nicknames as a player?
J.K: Oh, laughs. so many of them, sometimes people used to call me Berlin Wall, Ssekanyolya because of my height, Kirunda Tuzale for scoring late minute goals. All those were my names and I loved them.
W.W: I understand you scored 32 goals in a league did you ever considered yourself playing as a striker?
J.K: When I was a kid at Mulago, I used to play up front but when we were at old Kampala Primary School one of our central defenders got injured, because of my height the games master told me to go and play as a central defender .Thats when I started playing as a defender and according to him I played well. So he wanted me to start playing in that position.
W.W: Growing up as a young player, who inspired you to play football?
J.K: Franz Beckenbauer of German when he was playing for Bayern Munich and here locally Ibrahim Dafala.
W.W: You played with so many players could you please mention those you enjoyed playing with.
J.K :The man who inspired me greatly was Ibrahim Dafala, he was in the centre back for the National team, so when I started playing with him in Express that’s when I got inspired and started playing the real football, the Late Jolly Joe Kiwanuka, Late Robert Kiberu and Honorable Bidandi Ssali.
W.W: Toughest opponent in football.
J.K: As a team it used to be Zambia and Kenya, especially when we were playing away, those two were really very tough teams with good players.
W.W: Any achievements playing for the Cranes.
J.K: The achievement is that am known everywhere Uganda especially, people know me as a former footballer and coach.
W.W: You scored quite a number of goals, of those which one do you remember most?
J.K: The one which took us in the African Cup of Nations took us in the African Cup of Nations in 1978; I scored it when it was hardly a minute to time.
Another one is when we won the championship with KCC. If we had drawn with Simba, Express would have taken the trophy for the third time. I came from behind then scored a winner, when it was two minutes to time
W.W: If you had not made it in football what do you think you would be doing?
J.K: I would be a Musician.
W.W: Laughs…. interesting, you loved music so much. Tell us more.
J.K: Actually we grew up with Moses Matovu of Afrigo Band. If I had not played football I would be a musician.
W.W: In your career did you play professional football?
J.K : I played semi-professional in Abdabi for about six months.
W.W: Being a player and at the some point a coach any comment?
J.K : I qualified as a coach and I have a License B from West German by then. But I must say I never failed as a coach but I hated it, eventually when I was coaching you would tell somebody who the ball is supposed to be controlled…laughs… and then does not control it, then the crowd starts commenting on how the coach is bad. I never wanted to be blamed for something I have not done. In other wards I was a good coach because I brought Buikwe from the lower division.
W.W Any players you currently know you once played with?
J.K: Yes! So many of them, Steven Baraza, John Semanobe, Hassan Mutasa, Owekitiibwa Jimmy Semugabi.
W.W: These people are/were of a high calibre in society and yet football by then was considered for the uneducated what do you have to say?
J.K: That’s wrong because even then people used to go to school, for instance John Semanobe is a graduate, Willian Nkembe is a graduate, the Late Paul Hasule was a graduate.
W.W: When you were out of football/not on pitch, what would you be doing?
J.K: I used and I spend most of my time in the village, I like farming, even when I was playing, and in the village I have about 25 acres of land.
W.W: Is there anything that people don’t know about Jimmy?
J.K: People don’t know that I was born some goods years ago, stayed longer in the National team for 15years.
W.W: Anything else you want to let us know?
J.K : What I want in the rest of my life is to have a wonderful family and life; you cannot believe that I have kept my wife for 33years so I just pray to God that I continue like that.
W.W Any word for Uganda Cranes fans?
J.K: Let them always support the Uganda Cranes
W.W: Thanks a lot for you time
J.K: You are welcome.
Slide show showing a collection of Jimmy Kirunda images
Jimmy Kirunda the Legend on PhotoPeach
Ultimete Multimedia
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