{"id":8379,"date":"2021-04-15T15:53:29","date_gmt":"2021-04-15T15:53:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/?p=8379"},"modified":"2021-04-15T15:35:47","modified_gmt":"2021-04-15T15:35:47","slug":"azira-rushes-through-cranes-exit-door","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/azira-rushes-through-cranes-exit-door","title":{"rendered":"Azira rushes through Cranes exit door"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – Uganda<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>Mike Azira has become the latest Uganda Cranes player to retire in the aftermath of the national team\u2019s failed attempt to qualify for next year\u2019s Africa Cup of Nations.<\/p>\n

The midfielder, capped 10 times for Uganda, sent his letter to the Fufa president Eng Moses Magogo yesterday, days after Captain Denis Onyango called it quits.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlaying for the national team has been an honour and I am grateful for the opportunity you gave me to represent my country and my family,\u201d Azira, 33, writes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have enjoyed working with the federation and playing for the Uganda national team. Playing in two Africa Cup of Nations was one of the best moments with the Cranes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese memories will always stay with me and they be cherished always,\u201d the former SC Villa player adds.<\/p>\n

\u201cI take this this moment to thank all the coaches that I have worked with over the years and I also thank our fans who always supported us at home and on the road. I wish you all the best and I will continue to support the Cranes in any way possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Azira broke through at Villa whilst a student at Old Kampala SSS in the mid-2000s. He was highly regarded while coming through at the junior team, Joogo Young.<\/p>\n

Without making a telling impact locally, Azira moved to the USA to do his college education.<\/p>\n

Upon graduation, he joined Major League Soccer (MLS) side Seattle Sounders in 2014. Despite being a regular, Azira was constantly ignored by the national team coaches.<\/p>\n

He was finally selected by coach Micho Sredojevic in 2016 and featured at the 2017 Afcon finals, Uganda\u2019s first continental appearance in 39 years.<\/p>\n

Azira, now at USL Championship side New Mexico United, and Onyango join Hassan Wasswa who retired last week. The latter had not been picked for the national side since the 2019 Afcon.<\/p>\n

MICHAEL AZIRA<\/b><\/p>\n

Date of birth: August 22, 1987 (age 33)<\/p>\n

Height: 5ft 10in (1.78 m)<\/p>\n

Position: Midfielder<\/p>\n

CURRENT CLUB: New Mexico United<\/p>\n

COLLEGE CAREER<\/b><\/p>\n

2008\u20132010: Lindsey Wilson Blue Raiders<\/p>\n

2011: Mobile Rams<\/p>\n

SENIOR CAREER<\/b><\/p>\n

2010\u20132011: Mississippi Brilla<\/p>\n

2012\u20132013: Charleston Battery<\/p>\n

2014\u20132015: Seattle Sounders<\/p>\n

2015: Seattle Sounders 2<\/p>\n

2016\u20132018: Colorado Rapids<\/p>\n

2018: Colorado Springs Switchbacks (loan)<\/p>\n

2018\u20132019: Montreal Impact<\/p>\n

2019\u20132020: Chicago Fire<\/p>\n

2021 to-date: New Mexico United<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Uganda. Mike Azira has become the latest Uganda Cranes player to retire in the aftermath of the national team\u2019s failed attempt to qualify for next year\u2019s Africa Cup of Nations. The midfielder, capped 10 times for Uganda, sent his letter to the Fufa president Eng Moses Magogo yesterday, days after Captain Denis Onyango […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":8378,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,17],"tags":[233,240,234],"class_list":["post-8379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-sport","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-uganda","tag-uganda"],"yoast_head":"\nAzira rushes through Cranes exit door - Uganda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Mike Azira has become the latest Uganda Cranes player to retire in the aftermath of the national team\u2019s failed attempt t ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/azira-rushes-through-cranes-exit-door\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Azira rushes through Cranes exit door\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mike Azira has become the latest Uganda Cranes player to retire in the aftermath of the national team\u2019s failed attempt t ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/azira-rushes-through-cranes-exit-door\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Uganda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-04-15T15:53:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2021\/04\/img-60785d33c7754.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/azira-rushes-through-cranes-exit-door#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/azira-rushes-through-cranes-exit-door\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Azira rushes through Cranes exit door\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-04-15T15:53:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/azira-rushes-through-cranes-exit-door\"},\"wordCount\":366,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/azira-rushes-through-cranes-exit-door#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2021\/04\/img-60785d33c7754.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Uganda\",\"uganda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/azira-rushes-through-cranes-exit-door#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/azira-rushes-through-cranes-exit-door\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/azira-rushes-through-cranes-exit-door\",\"name\":\"Azira rushes through Cranes exit door - Uganda\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/azira-rushes-through-cranes-exit-door#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/azira-rushes-through-cranes-exit-door#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2021\/04\/img-60785d33c7754.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-04-15T15:53:29+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"Mike Azira has become the latest Uganda Cranes player to retire in the aftermath of the national team\u2019s failed attempt t ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/azira-rushes-through-cranes-exit-door#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/azira-rushes-through-cranes-exit-door\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/azira-rushes-through-cranes-exit-door#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2021\/04\/img-60785d33c7754.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2021\/04\/img-60785d33c7754.jpg\",\"width\":720,\"height\":480,\"caption\":\"Azira rushes through Cranes exit door\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/azira-rushes-through-cranes-exit-door#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Azira rushes through Cranes exit door\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/\",\"name\":\"Uganda\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Azira rushes through Cranes exit door - Uganda","description":"Mike Azira has become the latest Uganda Cranes player to retire in the aftermath of the national team\u2019s failed attempt t ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/azira-rushes-through-cranes-exit-door","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Azira rushes through Cranes exit door","og_description":"Mike Azira has become the latest Uganda Cranes player to retire in the aftermath of the national team\u2019s failed attempt t ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/azira-rushes-through-cranes-exit-door","og_site_name":"Uganda","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2021-04-15T15:53:29+00:00","og_image":[{"width":720,"height":480,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2021\/04\/img-60785d33c7754.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/azira-rushes-through-cranes-exit-door#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/azira-rushes-through-cranes-exit-door"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Azira rushes through Cranes exit door","datePublished":"2021-04-15T15:53:29+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/azira-rushes-through-cranes-exit-door"},"wordCount":366,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/azira-rushes-through-cranes-exit-door#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2021\/04\/img-60785d33c7754.jpg","keywords":["Africa Press","Africa Press-Uganda","uganda"],"articleSection":["all news","homepage-english","sport"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/azira-rushes-through-cranes-exit-door#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/azira-rushes-through-cranes-exit-door","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/azira-rushes-through-cranes-exit-door","name":"Azira rushes through Cranes exit door - Uganda","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/azira-rushes-through-cranes-exit-door#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/azira-rushes-through-cranes-exit-door#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2021\/04\/img-60785d33c7754.jpg","datePublished":"2021-04-15T15:53:29+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"Mike Azira has become the latest Uganda Cranes player to retire in the aftermath of the national team\u2019s failed attempt t ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/azira-rushes-through-cranes-exit-door#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/azira-rushes-through-cranes-exit-door"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/azira-rushes-through-cranes-exit-door#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2021\/04\/img-60785d33c7754.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2021\/04\/img-60785d33c7754.jpg","width":720,"height":480,"caption":"Azira rushes through Cranes exit door"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/azira-rushes-through-cranes-exit-door#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Azira rushes through Cranes exit door"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/","name":"Uganda","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8379\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}