Ibrahim Sekagya (born 19 December 1980) is a Ugandan former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either ...

. He is currently the interim head coach for

New York Red Bulls II New York Red Bulls II is an American professional soccer team based in Montclair, New Jersey. They are the reserve team of the New York Red Bulls and play in MLS Next Pro, the third tier in the American soccer pyramid. History Red Bull New Yor ...

of the

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, p ...

Club career

Born in Kawempe

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...

, as a boy, Sekagya started out his career playing on a bare surfaced pitch at Kawempe commonly known as 'kataka' before joining State House and later local giants Kampala City Council FC (KCC FC) Sekagya started his senior career with Kampala City Council in 1992, before moving to

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

in 1998 to try to make a career in football. His first Argentine club was

Atlético de Rafaela Asociación Mutual Social y Deportiva Atlético de Rafaela, known simply as Atlético de Rafaela, is an Argentine sports club based in the city of Rafaela, in Santa Fe Province. The club is mostly known for its professional football team, that ...

in the

Primera B Nacional Primera Nacional (usually called simply Nacional B, in English "National B Division", and known as Primera B Nacional until the 2019–20 season) is the second division of the Argentine football league system. The competition is made up of 37 team ...

. In 2002, he moved to

Ferro Carril Oeste Club Ferro Carril Oeste, known simply as Ferro Carril Oeste or familiarly, Ferro, is an Argentine sports club from the neighbourhood of Caballito, Buenos Aires. Although many activities are hosted by the club, Ferro is mostly known for its foot ...

in the

Primera B Metropolitana Primera B Metropolitana is one of two professional leagues that form the third level of the Argentine football league system. The division is made up of 17 clubs mainly from the city of Buenos Aires and its metropolitan area, Greater Buenos Aires. ...

, subsequently helping the team to win the league and secure promotion to the Primera B Nacional. In 2005, he was signed by

Arsenal de Sarandí An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostl ...

of the Argentine Primera División, where he spent two seasons. In June 2007, Sekagya signed a three-year contract with Red Bull Salzburg, the then current champions of the Austrian Bundesliga. He made his Bundesliga debut on 11 July 2007 in Salzburg's 4–1 win against

SC Rheindorf Altach Sportclub Rheindorf Altach, also known as Rheindorf Altach, SCR Altach or simply SCRA, is an Austrian association football club based in Altach, Vorarlberg. It plays in the Austrian Football Bundesliga. The club is currently also known as CAS ...

and scored his first league goal on 22 July 2007 to secure Salzburg a 2–2 away draw at

FK Austria Wien Fußballklub Austria Wien AG (; known in English as Austria Vienna, and usually shortened to Austria (German: Österreich) in German-speaking countries, is an Austrian association football club from the capital city of Vienna. It has won the mos ...

. He quickly established himself as a regular with the club and finished his first season with 34 Bundesliga appearances to his name, scoring three goals in the league. In his six seasons at the club Sekagya appeared in 165 league matches and scored 6 goals. During this time he helped the club capture three Austrian Football Bundesliga titles and one Austrian Cup. On 11 July 2013, Sekagya joined

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

side

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...

on a free transfer, following his departure from sister club Red Bull Salzburg. On 4 August 2013 Sekagya made his debut for New York starting as a defensive midfielder in a 3–2 victory over Sporting Kansas City. On 27 October 2013, Sekagya scored the go ahead goal in the last game of the season against the Chicago Fire at Red Bull Arena to help his team to a 5–2 victory and become

champions A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and world championships, a ...

of the regular season. It was the club's first major trophy in their 17-year history. However, Sekagya's giveaway led to an equalizer in Houston's 2–1 victory that knocked New York out of the 2013 MLS Cup Playoffs. During the 2014 season Sekagya became a regular starter for New York helping the club reach the MLS Cup playoffs. Sekagya retired from professional football in early 2015.

International career

Sekagya also played for the Ugandan national football team where he was the team's captain. He made 8 appearances and scored one goal in their qualifying campaign for the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...

, as well as 3 appearances and a goal in the qualifiers for the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

International goals

Coaching

Following his retirement, Sekagya joined the coaching staff of the

. On 2 July 2022, Sekagya was named interim head coach for the Red Bulls'

side,

Honours

(1): ** 2002–03 * Austrian Football Bundesliga (3): ** 2008–09, 2009–10, 2011–12 * Austrian Cup (1): ** 2012 *

MLS Supporters' Shield The Supporters' Shield is an annual award given to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record, as determined by the MLS points system. The Supporters' Shield has been annually awarded at the MLS Supporters' Summit since ...

(1): ** 2013

Club career

References

External links

* * *
Ibrahim Sekagya at Football Lineups
*
Guardian Football Stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sekagya, Ibrahim 1980 births Living people Sportspeople from Kampala Ugandan footballers Uganda international footballers Ugandan expatriate footballers Association football defenders Kampala Capital City Authority FC players Atlético de Rafaela footballers Ferro Carril Oeste footballers Arsenal de Sarandí footballers FC Red Bull Salzburg players New York Red Bulls players New York Red Bulls non-playing staff Argentine Primera División players Primera Nacional players Primera B Metropolitana players Austrian Football Bundesliga players Major League Soccer players Expatriate footballers in Argentina Expatriate footballers in Austria Expatriate soccer players in the United States Ugandan expatriate sportspeople in Argentina Ugandan expatriate sportspeople in Austria Ugandan expatriate sportspeople in the United States USL Championship coaches New York Red Bulls II coaches Ugandan expatriate football managers Expatriate soccer managers in the United States