Emmanuel Okwi

Emmanuel Arnold Okwi (born 25 December 1992) is a Ugandan professional footballer who plays as a left winger for Egyptian club Al Ittihad Alexandria Club and the Uganda national team.

Emmanuel Okwi

Emmanuel Okwi
Personal information
Full name	Emmanuel Arnold Okwi[1]
Date of birth	(1992-12-25) 25 December 1992[2]
Place of birth	Kampala, Uganda
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position(s)	Left winger[3]
Club information
Current team	Al Itihadd
Number	27
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2009–2010	SC Villa	40	(13)
2010–2013	Simba	38	(18)
2013	Étoile du Sahel	1	(0)
2013	SC Villa
2013–2014	Young Africans	18	(9)
2014–2015	Simba	20	(16)
2015–2017	SønderjyskE	4	(0)
2017	SC Villa	13	(10)
2017–2019	Simba	53	(36)
2019–	Al Ittihad	14	(2)
National team^‡
2011–	Uganda	78	(26)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 14:01, 22 July 2020 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 16:04, 22 July 2020 (UTC)

Club career

Okwi played for Uganda Super League club SC Villa before joining Tanzanian team Simba S.C. for US$40,000.[4]

In January 2013, Tunisian team Étoile Sportive du Sahel signed Okwi for a Tanzania record transfer fee of US$300,000.[5] The team, however, failed to pay the fee to Simba S.C. He was then cleared by FIFA's Player Status Committee in December 2013 to return to SC Villa[6] although the clearance was changed two months later so he could play for Young Africans S.C.,[7] despite Simba S.C.'s protests.[8]

Okwi rejoined Simba S.C. in August 2014 under a six-month contract, explaining that Young Africans S.C. had terminated his contract[9] by failing to pay the US$50,000 owed to him.[10] Okwi refused to play the last five games of the 2013–14 season for Young Africans because of the payment controversy.[10] Young Africans vigorously protested the transfer to Simba S.C. and claimed that the contract was still in effect.[10] The Tanzania Football Federation rejected that claim in September 2014.[11]

In July 2015, SønderjyskE Fodbold signed Okwi on a five-year contract,[12] with the consent of Simba S.C.,[13] that would last until 2020.[14] In January 2017, Okwi and agreed to terminate the contract. He scored two goals in six appearances.[15]

Upon his return from Denmark Okwi re-joined former club SC Villa signing a six-month contract. He scored 10 goals in 13 Uganda Premier League matches.[16]

In June 2017, Okwi signed with Simba S.C. for the third time in his career having agreed a two-year contract.[16]

In July 2019, after impressing at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, Okwi joined Egyptian Premier League club Al Ittihad on a two-year contract.[17][18]

International career

Okwi first represented Uganda at senior level in 2009. He was the second top scorer at the 2010 CECAFA Cup, scoring a four goals in five matches.[19] The following year at the 2011 CECAFA Cup, he scored five goals and was joint top scorer alongside Rwanda's Meddie Kagere and their captain Olivier Karekezi.[20]

Personal life

Okwi grew up idolizing Thierry Henry and is a fan of Arsenal F.C.. Okwi was born into a Roman Catholic family, but at a young age, his mother became a Born Again Christian and raised her children in her faith. Okwi married his longtime girlfriend Florence Nakalegga with whom they have one child.[21] Okwi played football as a boy while at St. Henry's College Kitovu.[22]

Career statistics

International

As of matches played on 16 July 2019[23]

Uganda national team
Year	Apps	Goals
2009	5	1
2010	5	3
2011	5	5
2012	12	3
2013	10	5
2014	5	0
2015	0	0
2016	6	0
2017	5	1
2018	7	2
2019	7	2
Total	67	22

International goals

Scores and results list Uganda's goal tally first.[23]

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	13 December 2009	Nyayo National Stadium, Nairobi, Kenya	Rwanda	2–0	2–0	2009 CECAFA Cup
2.	2 December 2010	Benjamin Mkapa National Stadium, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania	Malawi	1–1	1–1	2010 CECAFA Cup
3.	5 December 2010		Kenya	1–0	2–1
4.	8 December 2010		Zanzibar	2–1	2–2
5.	12 December 2010		Ethiopia	2–2	4–3
6.	28 November 2011	Chamazi Stadium, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania	Somalia	2–0	4–0	2011 CECAFA Cup
7.				3–0
8.				4–0
9.	8 December 2011	Benjamin Mkapa National Stadium, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania	Tanzania	2–1	3–1
10.	10 December 2011		Rwanda	2–2	2–2
11.	3 June 2012	Estádio 11 de Novembro, Luanda, Angola	Angola	1–1	1–1	2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
12.	16 June 2012	Mandela National Stadium, Kampala, Uganda	Congo	4–0	4–0	2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
13.	6 December 2012		Tanzania	1–0	3–0	2012 CECAFA Cup
14.	15 June 2013		Angola	1–1	2–1	2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
15.	31 August 2013	Botswana National Stadium, Gaborone, Botswana	Botswana	1–0	3–1	Friendly
16.				2–0
17.	2 December 2013	Nairobi City Stadium, Nairobi, Kenya	Eritrea	1–0	3–0	2013 CECAFA Cup
18.				3–0
19.	31 August 2017	Mandela National Stadium, Kampala, Uganda	Egypt	1–0	1–0	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
20.	13 October 2018		Lesotho	1–0	3–0	2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
21.				3–0
22.	22 June 2019	Cairo International Stadium, Cairo, Egypt	DR Congo	2–0	2–0	2019 Africa Cup of Nations
23.	26 June 2019		Zimbabwe	1–0	1–1
24.	8 September 2019	Moi International Sports Centre, Nairobi, Kenya	Kenya	1–0	1–1	Friendly
25.	13 October 2019	Bahir Dar Stadium, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia	Ethiopia	1–0	1–0
26.	17 November 2019	Mandela National Stadium, Kampala, Uganda	Malawi	1–0	2–0	2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification

References

1. Emmanuel Okwi at Soccerway. Retrieved 2013-08-31.
2. "Emmanuel Okwi profile". FIFA. FIFA. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
3. Emmanuel Okwi at WorldFootball.net
4. "Emma Okwi set to join Orlando Pirates in a record transfer". Kawoko Sports. 22 June 2012. Archived from the original on 23 June 2012. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
5. "Okwi joins Etoile du Sahel". Super Sport. 16 January 2013. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
6. "Tanzania's Simba claims to 'own' Okwi", New Vision, authored by James Bakama, accessed 11 July 2015 Archived 12 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine
7. "Okwi Delighted After Fifa Clearance", RedPepper, 14 February 2014, accessed 11 July 2015
8. "Kiiza – FIFA Cleared Okwi Move To Tanzanian Club", RedPepper, authored by Stephen Muneza, 20 December 2013, accessed 11 July 2015
9. "EMMANUEL OKWI’S SIMBA SC SHARES SPOILS WITH YOUNG AFRICAS IN TANZANIAN DERBY", Kawowo Sports, 19 October 2014, accessed 11 July 2015
10. "Yanga pull plug on Okwi deal", In2EastAfrica, accessed 11 July 2015
11. "Tanzania: Counsel - Okwi Ruling Set Precedence", Daily News, 10 September 2014, via allAfrica.com, accessed 11 July 2015
12. "Emmanuel Okwi handed 5 year contract at Danish Club SønderjyskE Fodbold". Kawowo Sports. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
13. "Okwi Signs Five Year Contract With Sonderjyske Of Denmark", UGO News, 10 July 2015, accessed 11 July 2015
14. soenderjyske.dk http://www.soenderjyske.dk/. Missing or empty |title= (help)
15. "SønderjyskE ophæver med Okwi". bold.dk (in Danish). 17 January 2017. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
16. Ssenoga, Shafik (26 June 2017). "Emmanuel Okwi joins Simba". New Vision. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
17. "Egypt's Ittihad of Alexandria sign Uganda striker Okwi". Ahram Online. 1 August 2019. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
18. Adewoye, Gbenga (2 August 2019). "Transfer news: Al Ittihad sign Ugandan striker Emmanuel Okwi". Goal. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
19. Mubiru, Abdallah (13 December 2010). "Tanzania are CECAFA champions". New Vision. Uganda. Archived from the original on 16 December 2010. Retrieved 5 April 2011.
20. Mugabe, Bonnie (11 December 2011). "Third time unlucky". The New Times. Rwanda. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
21. Flint, Liam (12 March 2017). "Ugandan striker, Emmanuel Okwi: "People thought I have this mohawk because I use witchcraft"". Cross The Line. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
22. "Emmanuel Okwi: Uganda Cranes striker in advanced talks with United Arab Emirates club". Kawowo Sports. 9 July 2019. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
23. "Emmanuel Okwi". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 31 August 2017.

External links

• Emmanuel Okwi at National-Football-Teams.com