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Miya aims to repay Konyaspor belief after remarkable start
Miya (L) is joined by a teammate to celebrate a strike. COURTESY PHOTO
What you need to know:
Konyaspor currently lie 14th on the 18-team league, a point and two places above the three relegation spots. Miya joins the late Majid Musisi and Hassan Wasswa as the other Ugandan players to have played in Turkey.
Farouk Miya made a Shs1.5b ($400,000) move from Vipers to Standard Liege in 2016.
It is, however, after four years and having played in three countries that the Cranes international appears to have finally settled into a team on and off the pitch.
This is after the former Vipers captain made an impressive start to life at Konyaspor in the Turkish League, scoring five goals in 19 league games.
While the tally appears modest, Miya, who has largely been operating in midfield, remains the club’s top scorer this season despite a muscle problem. The tally is also his joint highest having managed five goals in 30 appearances for Croatian side HNK Gorica in the 2018/2019 season.
“Other leagues are good but I didn’t get the kind of opportunity to express myself well to the world. I have been working harder and being able to feature well in Turkish League is because of persistence and believing always in myself.
He has consequently missed the club’s last six games since suffering a muscle strain in the goalless draw against Antalyaspor in a Turkish Super Lig match at the start of February.
“The injury is not very serious but I had to go through for better results. I am doing well in my rehabilitation and in two weeks I can play games,” Miya told the Daily Monitor.
Delayed return
But with the Coronavirus (COVID-19) putting a halt to most sporting activities globally his return to competitive action is likely to be delayed even if Turkey was one of the countries reluctant to halt their domestic leagues.
Konyaspor currently lie 14th on the 18-team league, a point and two places above the three relegation spots.
Miya joins the late Majid Musisi and Hassan Wasswa as the other Ugandan players to have played in Turkey.
“Yes Majid is known, he is the first Ugandan to play in Turkey and scored a lot of goals,” Miya said of the former SC Villa and Cranes striker.
Musisi scored 60 goals in five-year spell in Turkey featuring for two clubs Bursaspor and Çanakkale Dardanelspor.
MIYA PROFILE
Date of birth:
November 26, 1997
Height: 1.76 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)
Playing position: Midfielder
Jersey: 17
National team:
Uganda (since 2014)
Season stats
Matches played: 19
Goals scored: 5
Clubs played for
wVipers (Uganda)
wStandard Liège,
wRoyal Excel Mouscron (Belgium)
wSabail (Azerbaijan)
wGorica (Croatia)
wKonyaspor (Turkey)
