Africa-Press – Uganda. When KCCA striker Patrick Kaddu adeptly flicked the loose ball over the line for his goal against URA on Wednesday at the MTN Philip Omondi Stadium, you would deceptively think scoring is the most undemanding thing to do in football.
Yet is that knack that deserted him when it mattered most during the ill-fated expeditions in Morocco and Egypt. Without a second choice, Kaddu who had plundered 32 goals in 64 matches for KCCA in his first three-year spell, chose to return to Lugogo – to start all over again.
“I got a smooth landing because coach Morley Byekwaso is now the boss and I found most of the players I had played with three years ago who gladly welcomed me,” Kaddu told Sunday Monitor.
He reveals that stints at RS Berkane (Morocco), Berrechid (Morocco) and Ismaily (Egypt) have aided him to learn how to use the ball, polish his scoring instincts and play the game at the fastest of speeds.
Dreary goal return
Poached after a relatively impressive outing with the Uganda Cranes at the 2019 Afcon tourney in Egypt, Berkane treated Kaddu as the missing piece in their scoring jigsaw. Two games into his tenure, the coach (Mounir Jauoani) who recommended his recruitment was sacked.
“The new coach (Tarik Sektoui) came in with his players and sent me on loan to Egypt where I played only two games before the Covid-19 pandemic set in. I was then loaned to Berrechid where I played only eight matches with one goal and returned to Berkane to finish up my four-year contract,” Kaddu reveals. To his dismay, the new coach at Berkane, Florent Ibenge ordered the termination of his contract because the Congolese tactician had imported in trusted Zambian strikers.
“I had weathered the chilling Morocco winter, language barrier and limited playing time but it hurt me most not to be paid my outstanding salary arrears and that is why I took my complaint to Fifa who resolved the issue,” he added.
Put succinctly, Kaddu’s lamentable sojourn in the Moroccan elite division Botola Pro displays; a paltry six matches for Berkane without a goal and eight games and one goal for Berrechid.
Recouping Micho trust
In August last year, a late minute switch to Iran fell through and kaddu was advised to wait for the January window to try his luck again. He couldn’t bear the six-month wait and started igniting a move to KCCA.
“I chose to sign a six month contract with KCCA as I wait for June. In all this, I want to repay Uganda Cranes coach Micho Sredojevic who suffered countless insults when he played me in the Tanzania friendly and took me on the Europe and Asia tour without a club,” Kaddu stresses.
Ahead of today’s StarTimes Uganda Premier League contest with Mbarara City at Kakyeka, the former Maroons and Kira Young forward, has set a 15-goal target in all competitions and reckons KCCA has all it takes to win the four-team title contest.
Cutthroat striker competition
Kaddu tore apart the Davis Kasirye-Sadat Anaku striking tandem that had fed KCCA from the start with a combined nine goals. He pushed other contenders Brian Aheebwa and Charles Lwanga further down the pecking order.
“Everybody has to compete, I don’t fear healthy competition because it is the same scenario that always awaits me at the national team with the likes of Fahd Bayo, Derrick Nsibamb and Emma Okwi,” he vowed.
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