5 September 2007
Kampala — WHEN the first contingent of Uganda's professional footballers arrived on Monday, Laszlo Csaba doubtless breathed a sigh of relief so heavy it could have registered on the Richter Scale.
Csaba has erected his Nations Cup hopes on the presence of all pros!
But his relief at the appearance of Timothy Batabaire and Co. might not have been shared by everyone - particularly the horde of journalists that thronged Entebbe to meet the South Africa-based lot - only to see their quest for precious sound-bites thwarted by the returnees.
Batabaire applied "jetlag," "fatigue," "air miles" and other flowery lines to explain the pros' reluctance to talk to the press.
He wasn't carrying an iPod - and neither was he wearing earphones!
But those glaring oversights aside, the Cranes defender acted like a European professional.
Of course, journalists at the airport felt rather short-changed by Batabaire's 'snub.'
But more than that, the scribes were struck by his professional self-belief.
Humility remains an exalted virtue - except in the confidence-driven world of football. Just ask Diego Maradona or Eric Cantona!
Maradona was once asked whether Pele was the finest footballer ever. The Argentine legend glared at the offending interrogator, then retorted: "My mother says I'm the best and the bible teaches me to always agree with my parents!"
Cantona's upturned collar during matches told opponents a similar tale - albeit in non-verbal form.
Batabaire might never scale the professional heights of the above icons but as his conduct at Entebbe proved, it surely won't be for want of trying.
His refusal to talk through jetlag - though an inconvenience to the media - it reminded one of the confidence bordering on arrogance that made Maradona et al into world beaters.
Like Jose Mourinho frequently illustrates, to succeed in football, it's prudent for one to occasionally think he's the axis upon which the world rotates.
Batabaire's soaring sense of self-worth might not win him many admirers among Uganda's quote-gathering brigade but it will convert into quite the asset when he faces Niger's strikers.
Come to think of it, such self-belief is the difference between the current crop of Cranes stars and those from the past generations.
The present Cranes - unlike their predecessors - sport flashy hairdos and aren't anxious to indulge the press at the expense of professional principles.
At Entebbe, Batabaire might have sounded the death knell to a time when Cranes stars scrambled to stammer out quotes at the sight of a pen and a well-thumbed notebook.
Then, Ugandan football was the punch-line to every joke and confidence was a rationed commodity in the Cranes ranks.
Batabaire's generation evidently drowns in the stuff; which explains why Ugandans are dreaming of Ghana '08.
It's inconceivable that the current Cranes can suffer the same collective failure of nerve the 1993 team experienced as Adam Ssemugabi missed the vital spot-kick against Nigeria.
Their combined self-belief is the reason fans who endured 6-0 away thrashings with silent resignation in the past can now frown upon a draw in Lesotho as an unmitigated scandal.
Ugandans will hope that Batabaire's confidence is sufficiently contagious to infect his other teammates.
If that happens, Cranes won't lack the confidence to ship a flood of goals past Niger at Namboole.
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