AFC Leopards' Sam Ssenyonjo scores against Tusker during FKF Premier League match at Nyayo National Stadium on played on January 11, 2026
It’s never luck, it’s always God. So read the message – written in Spanish – on the white undershirt AFC Leopards’ Ugandan forward Samuel Ssenyonjo exposed after he took off his jersey to celebrate scoring a hat-trick in his team’s 4-0 win over Tusker FC on Sunday at the Nyayo National Stadium.
That 72nd-minute goal – from the penalty spot – followed his strikes in the 13th and 23rd minutes that had given Leopards a 2-0 halftime lead.
The goal capped a memorable afternoon for the 24-year-old, during which he also assisted Leopards’ other goal, scored in the 48th minute by Ronald Sichenje.
Ssenyonjo Samuel (left) of AFC Leopards tussles for an aerial ball with John Otieno of Nairobi United during their FKF Premier League match at Nyayo National Stadium, Nairobi on January 7, 2026.
After the match, AFC Leopards coach Fred Ambani hailed Ssenyonjo’s performance as “superb” and one that justifies his acquisition from Uganda’s Express FC in September last year.
“As a foreign player, he has been under immense pressure to perform. We have been working on his mentality,” Ambani said, hinting at the effort made by his coaching staff to keep Ssenyonjo focused and motivated during his goal drought. Prior to his treble on Sunday, Ssenyonjo had scored only one league goal since his arrival.
“He started slowly, and as a coach, when I noticed the pressure to perform was affecting him, I saw it wise to limit his involvement in matches as we worked on his mental preparation. He needed to have pressure taken off him so he does not crack,” Ambani said.
Cheeky attempts
Perhaps borrowing a leaf from his coach’s book, AFC Leopards captain Kayci Odhiambo also did his bit in taking pressure off Ssenyonjo before he completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot. After Ssenyonjo had won the penalty following a foul on him by Chrispine Erambo, Odhiambo took the ball and stood on the penalty spot, perhaps protecting it from cheeky attempts by Tusker FC players to “garden” it.
“Gardening around the penalty spot”, as explained by Norwegian psychologist Geir Jordet in his book ‘Pressure: Lessons from the Psychology of the Penalty Shootout’, refers to an attempt by defending teams to violate the penalty spot before the kicker of the attacking team places the ball on it.
“This is obviously a functional technique, because taking a shot from a scuffed-up penalty spot is more difficult than from a pristine one. But it can be a psychologically destabilising technique, too. Even if the physical damage is minimal, and the boot merely brushed over or near the spot, the penalty taker can feel indirectly violated at some level. The defender has literally stepped on the attacker’s turf,” Jordet writes in the book.
Speaking to Nation Sport after the match, Odhiambo revealed why he took the ball and stood on the penalty spot at that moment.
Posta Rangers’ Faustin Ojiambo (left) attempts to kick the ball as AFC Leopards forward Sam Ssenyonjo closes in during their SportPesa League match at Dandora Stadium, Nairobi.
“These tricks are well known. You can actually check them on Google,” he said. “As captain, I had to take control of the situation. Everyone knew Ssenyonjo was on a hat-trick, but I had to take the pressure of scoring off him. By taking the ball and standing on the penalty spot, I made it obvious that I was the one who would not take the penalty, but I was just behaving as a decoy until the chaos from the referee awarding us a penalty subsided,” Odhiambo added.
When calm resumed, Odhiambo handed the ball over to Ssenyonjo, who, now composed and relaxed, stepped up and completed his hat-trick after wrong-footing Brandon Obiero.
Commenting on Odhiambo’s performance, coach Ambani described it as guided by the club’s hierarchy of taking places.
“Usually, Odhiambo is our first-choice penalty taker, with Ssenyonjo second in line. Even in this situation, with Ssenyonjo on a hat-trick, that hierarchy had to be obeyed. Of course, Odhiambo knew Ssenyonjo was on a hat-trick, but order had to be followed. What Odhiambo did (allowing Ssenyonjo to take the penalty to complete his hat-trick) was very good and commendable. It showed leadership,” Ambani said.
Prolific striker
During his playing days, Ambani was a prolific striker for AFC Leopards when he played for them in 1998 before transferring to Oserian FC the following year. Ambani was the league’s joint-top scorer in 1998, tying on 14 goals with Patrick Mugata of Mumias Sugar.
His goals – and the 13 scored by his younger brother and strike partner Boniface Ambani – delivered the league title for ‘Ingwe’ that season. It remains Leopards’ last league title, but with Fred now as coach and Boniface as the club’s chairman, 2026 is starting to look like the year that the title drought will end, with the Ambani brothers playing a key role once again.
Yet, for all their menace in front of goal, the Ambani brothers failed to achieve what Ssenyonjo did on Sunday – scoring a hat-trick for AFC Leopards. Ssenyonjo’s hat-trick, per data compiled by ‘Ingwe Fan’ magazine, was the 45th scored by AFC Leopards in the league.
Ssenyonjo also became the 29th player to score a hat-trick for AFC Leopards in the league. The last one before him is his teammate Victor Omune, who scored a treble when Leopards defeated Talanta 6-0 on February 9, 2023. Stephen Baraza was the first AFC Leopards player to score a league hat-trick, doing so on May 1, 1964, in a 4-4 draw against Black Stars.
Ssenyonjo’s hat-trick is also AFC Leopards’ second by a foreign player, since the Congolese Demonde Selenga’s triple in a 4-3 win over KCB on July 24, 2010.
Should he score another league hat-trick for AFC Leopards, Ssenyonjo will become only the ninth player to score multiple league hat-tricks for AFC Leopards. He will emulate Joe Kadenge (four), Livingstone Madegwa (four), Francis Kadenge (three), Joe “JJ” Masiga (three), Wilberforce Mulamba (three), Patrick Shim (three), Noah Wanyama (two), and William Inganga (two).
Well, there is no pressure on Ssenyonjo to join that elite list. He will also not be relying on luck because God has always done it for him.
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