The final whistle on matchday six of the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League delivered contrasting emotions for Uganda’s representatives, elation for Denis Onyango, anguish for Allan Okello.
Veteran goalkeeper Onyango is the last Ugandan standing in this season’s competition after Mamelodi Sundowns powered into the quarter-finals with authority.
The South African heavyweights rose to the occasion, brushing aside MC Alger 2-0 in a composed, clinical display that underlined their pedigree on the continent.
Brazilian forward Brian Leon Muniz struck twice to secure second place in Group C, ensuring the 2016 African champions continue their pursuit of continental glory.
Sundowns progressed alongside Sudan’s Al Hilal Omdurman, who sealed top spot with a narrow 1-0 victory over Stade Éloi Lupopo in Kigali.
For Onyango, it is another chapter in a storied African journey, calm leadership, steady presence, and yet another appearance in the knockout rounds of Africa’s premier club competition.
Okello’s Yanga Left to Lament
While Sundowns celebrated, the mood was far heavier in Zanzibar. Young Africans S.C, widely known as Yanga, produced one of their most convincing performances of the campaign, dismantling JS Kabylie 3-0 at Amaan Stadium. Yet even that emphatic triumph proved insufficient.
Okello played his part, setting up the second goal as Angolan striker Depu bagged a brace before Boka added a third to cap an electric evening. But qualification hinged on events hundreds of kilometres away.
In Cairo, AS FAR held record champions Al Ahly to a tense goalless draw. That solitary point was enough to lift FAR just above Yanga in the standings, condemning the Tanzanian giants to a second successive group-stage exit.
Al Ahly advanced as group winners. Yanga, despite their spirited finale, were left to reckon with what might have been.
Quarter-Final Line-Up Confirmed
Group A
Pyramids FC (Egypt)
RS Berkane (Morocco)
Group B
Al Ahly (Egypt)
AS FAR (Morocco)
Group C
Al Hilal Omdurman (Sudan)
Mamelodi Sundowns (South African football club)
Group D
Stade Malien (Mali)
Espérance Sportive de Tunis (Tunisia)
As the competition narrows, Onyango remains Uganda’s lone standard-bearer. The road to continental supremacy grows steeper, but for Sundowns and their veteran shot-stopper, the dream is still firmly alive.
