Case for Bukedea

What you need to know:

SOCCER. The Cranes are in North Eastern Uganda this weekend where they face a home
select side two days before the Pharaohs from Egypt’s touch down at Entebbe Airport.

KAMPALA. Cranes captain and Africa’s best goalkeeper, player (based on the continent) Denis Onyango might have joined his colleagues ahead of Thursday’s clash with Egypt.
However, the Mamelodi Sundowns shot-stopper and a few other active foreign-based stars might have travelled but may have limited time, or not feature at all, in this North East Cranes Namutima tour against hosts Bukedea today.
Cranes interim coach Moses Basena will use this practice match to mainly test local-based players and those who ply their trade abroad but have hardly kicked a competitive ball in the last few months.
But eyebrows have been raised over the relevance and timing of this particular trip, and the standards of the pitch five days to Uganda’s most important World Cup qualifier against Egypt at Namboole on Thursday.
However, Basena insists that this, like all previous regional tours - all bankrolled by Cranes sponsors Nile Special and Airtel - is more of a plus than otherwise. “Each time we get to stay as a group,” he explained to Saturday Monitor, “We learn together and grow together.
“When the Brazilians were going to South Africa for the World Cup, they played Tanzania in Tanzania. Probably you’re basing your question on the opponent.
“But remember that each match situation we get is important for the players, especially those that have not played in over a month like Hassan (Wasswa, and Denis Guma).”
This again leaves Basena in the spotlight, especially given that some players like Mike Azira are active in their leagues yet have not been called up.
“Secondly, this practice match is only on Saturday, then the game against Egypt is on Thursday. So it’s part of training.”
Then there are concerns about whether the surface the team will play on in Bukedea is good enough for the players to avoid avoidable injuries.
“I will have to assess the field and then decide how many minutes each player will play,” said Basena.
Fufa head of communications Ahmed Hussein also sees no problem with the team preparing for Egypt with a match against amateurs.