Uganda’s national coach Paul Put brought in a goalkeeper who began his international career when he was guarding the Algerian “Greens” goal defended by Hichem Mazair, Mohamed Benhamou, Walenas Qawawi, and Nassim Ousrir!

This is about goalkeeper Dennis Onyango (40 years old), who previously participated with Uganda’s national team in the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifiers held in Germany. Specifically, he was given the opportunity against the host Ghana on September 4, 2005, in the penultimate round of the qualifiers. At that time, the Algerian national team had a different set of goalkeepers, including those mentioned above.

Dennis Onyango played his last international match on March 29, 2021, away against Malawi, in the last round of the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers. After that, he retired from international football and continued playing at the club level for South Africa’s Sundowns.

In the FIFA window last September, Uganda’s national coach Paul Put reinstated him and asked him to come out of international retirement, but Onyango only appeared as a substitute.

Last Thursday evening, goalkeeper Dennis Onyango started for the first time after four and a half years of absence. He contributed to his team’s 1-0 victory over host Botswana in the ninth and penultimate round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

Goalkeeper Dennis Onyango and his Ugandan team are hoping for a “miracle,” which means winning against Algeria this Tuesday and securing the best second-place ranking.

Uganda’s chances of achieving their ambition seem almost impossible, as four teams are ahead by two points, and Uganda will play the last round at home against Gabon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, and either Nigeria or South Africa.