Allan Okello’s Young Africans SC story could scarcely have asked for a more emphatic opening chapter.
Barely a week after completing his high-profile move from Ugandan champions Vipers SC, the gifted playmaker announced his arrival in Tanzania calmly, yet influential and in style, debuting as Yanga demolished Mashujaa FC 6-0 in a one-sided Tanzanian Premier League encounter on Monday.
While the scoreline told a brutal story, Okello’s performance added an intriguing sub-plot. The former Vipers talisman capped his first outing in green and yellow with influence, after his ferocious free-kick was parried into the path of fellow debutant Laurindo Dilson Depu for Yanga’s sixth goal.
It was a moment that neatly summed up Okello’s afternoon: authoritative, inventive and utterly unfazed by his new surroundings.
Camara Damaro had set the tone as early as the eighth minute before Duke Abuya (28’), Pacome Zouzoua (33’), Prince Dube (79’) and Mudathir Abbas (81’) piled on the misery for Mashujaa. Yet beyond the goals, it was Okello’s seamless integration that stood out.
Signed in what was widely regarded as a marquee, big-money move, Okello arrived at Young Africans carrying the weight of expectation that follows one of Uganda’s most naturally gifted midfielders.
At Vipers SC, he built a reputation as a conductor-in-chief, a player with velvet touch, expansive passing range and a penchant for decisive moments on the big stage. On evidence of his debut, that pedigree has translated effortlessly.
Operating in advanced areas off the right, Okello was at the centre of much of Yanga’s attacking rhythm, constantly demanding the ball, knitting play together and carving out openings with clever angles and disguised passes. His willingness to assume responsibility was immediately evident.
Despite being new to the dressing room, he was entrusted with set-piece duties, taking a host of corners and free-kicks, a clear signal of the confidence of head coach Pedro Goncalves and the technical bench already in him.
He went close on a couple of occasions too, forcing Mashujaa goalkeeper Erick Johora into sharp saves, and crucially completed the full 90 minutes, an impressive vote of trust on debut at a club that prides itself on excellence and instant results.
Meanwhile, the result keeps Young Africans perfect in authority at the summit of the table. After seven matches, they boast 19 points, two clear of second-placed JKT Tanzania, who have played three games more.
Mashujaa, meanwhile, sit fourth with 13 points from 10 outings, left bruised by a rampant Yanga display.
For Okello, the focus now shifts quickly to an even grander stage. Young Africans travel to Cairo on Friday to face African royalty Al Ahly in the CAF Champions League, a baptism of fire, but also an arena tailor-made for a player who has never shied away from responsibility.
