Cranes have been on the brink before
Uganda cranes players; Geoffrey Massa (L), Luwagga Kizito (2nd L), Farouk Miya (2nd R) and Emmanuel Okwi . File photo
What you need to know:
PESSIMISM. The most cynical have even said even if all the other results pan out in our favour, we shall somehow conspire to draw or lose to Comoros at Namboole.
The Cranes are on the brink of qualifying for Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon). That’s nothing new.
Success has been within our reach so often, but also eluded us so badly that, we often wish it would be the answer that appears after one punches numbers on a calculator. So we all know this qualification animal and our chronic inability to overcome it for the last 39 years!
I guess then we could all be forgiven for looking towards September with cynicism. I have heard folks say it is not in our hands because Burkina Faso will definitely win against Botswana at home. Others say we can’t even be among the two best second-placed teams across the groups.
You see any of Benin, Mali, Central African Republic, DR Congo, and Liberia will have a thing or two to say about that.
The most cynical have even said even if all the other results pan out in our favour, we shall somehow conspire to draw or lose to Comoros at Namboole. The pessimism is simply suffocating.
This is what happens when the fear of failure borne out of prolonged under-achievement becomes part of your psyche. It is what happens when our fondness for self-destruction develops into such a force of habit. It is what happens when you consistently pick the wrong fights at the wrong time.
But look here we have given ourselves a fighting chance by amassing 10 points and winning two away games along the way.
Also unlike us, the rest of the teams in contention for second place are playing away.
On top of all that, September 3 is over 90 days away. That gives us the window to run and hope our vices don’t catch up with us.
We all know what goes down in this land as soon as the success starved football masses suspect we are about to get a windfall. At the very best politicians fall over each other to have photo opportunities and rich men engage in a race to promise the fattest bonus.
At worst, our football administrators chose to engage in damaging power struggles, normally also due to the fall-out over the pledges.
So we might as well prepare to accommodate all of these distractions because they will happen. They always do. And here is a suggestion.
Anyone who wishes to visit the team or Fufa to promote whatever agenda, please do it between now and end of July 30. All pledges are welcome but please announce and post them before the said date.
That will give the football administrators enough time to ‘manage’ these funds or the inevitable disagreements over them. Then slam shut the doors of the Cranes camp for all of August!
This way when the boys emerge on that September day, it shall be with the focus that comes with uninterrupted preparations. The time for photos and pledges shall come.
But for now the boys must be allowed to get on with a job that is still incomplete, regardless of how much promise it carries.
