Looming Chan should make regional tournament crucial

When the tournament ends, coach Bobby can only be pleased if he emerges with a team strong enough to compete at Chan and make a go at the 2015 Afcon qualifiers.

Kampala

Yet another Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup tournament kicks off today. The annual regional event is being hosted by Uganda for the first time in four years. Uganda Cranes, the most successful team in the tournament with 12 titles, come into the competition as defending champions.

The team that won it in Tanzania last year, beating Rwanda 4-3 in a post-match penalty shootout, was relatively stronger than others and loaded with lots of experience. The presence of national skipper Andrew Mwesigwa, his deputy Simeon Masaba, Mike Sserumaga and Tonny Mawejje added lots.

In comparison to other teams in the region, you could argue that Uganda have consistently fielded their best team with the exception of retired former captain Ibrahim Sekagya. Kenya, Rwanda and Burundi, chiefly, always opt to use it as a stepping stone for their squad players. Of course, the clamour for quick success here often makes it hard to follow Cranes’ rivals. This has come at a time when Cecafa is no longer the ultimate attraction it was in the 70s, 80s and 90s. Cranes are now judged by much higher standards. Qualifying for the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) for the first time since 1978 has become the Holy Grail.

The narrow failures of recent times have also made it hard for fans to celebrate anything less as desperation has replaced proper planning for the long term.

Besides winning another Cecafa to show supremacy in the region, there won’t be much celebration and it will take a miracle to get the crowds synonymous with Afcon campaigns. There is quite an attempt from football administrators in the region to make a case for Cecafa and keep it vibrant even if no team, with the exception of Somalia and Sudan, brings its best side. Afcon-bound Ethiopia have only four senior players in their team.

Bobby Williamson, who has been here since 2008, winning three titles in the process, has picked a leaf from his foes and defended the tournament. “The Cecafa has been great for us,” said the Scot, “Because it has helped us develop players like (Godfrey) Walusimbi and other guys. So it is an important competition. “There are a lot of talented footballers coming through and the Cecafa will be an opportunity to see if they take it up. We’ll find out how it goes over the next month.”

Mwesigwa, Mawejje, Masaba and other senior players have been left out to level the ground considerably for visiting teams hoping to win it in the hosts’ backyard. The 20-man team has 11 home-based players, some inactive ones like stand-in skipper Hassan Wasswa and others from across Africa.

Ugly Afcon cousin
Getting goalkeeper Abel Dhaira from Iceland, is the farthest Fufa have had to go to fish a professional. There has been a clear objective to look closer to home. There is the Championship of African Nations (Chan), a competition for only players playing in domestic leagues across the continent, looming large. Uganda face Tanzania in the preliminaries next month. Chan is already an ugly cousin of Afcon.

It’s easier to dry Kampala on a rainy afternoon than explain Chan’s relevance.
However, just like Cecafa, Chan can tap into acting as a feeder tournament. Cranes need these kinds of tournaments to create a pool especially as a large portion of the current team has been together for the past eight years and a decline is inevitable.

Finally, the heir to the right back position that Masaba has made his own will be known over the next three weeks.

Victoria’s Denis Guma against Nicholas Wadada (Vipers) is perhaps the most fascinating fight for a national team position in years. Whoever gets the nod, most likely Guma, will have taken a significant step to succeed Masaba in the long term.

Goalkeepers Hamza Muwonge and Ali Kimera will act as understudies to Dhaira though neither of the three is dislodge Denis Onyango for the Cranes’ number one berth ver soon. The two local-based goalkeepers can at least hope to impress and play a part in Chan in the short term and cement senior team places.
Midfielders Joseph Mpande (Vipers), Manco Kaweesa and Saidi Kyeyune (all URA) will also get the much needed exposure.

Left-sided Brian Majwega (KCC) could be luckier than them. His position is nearly empty at present with Iraq-based Sula Matovu withdrawing through injury.

Majwega is an exciting player with lots of potential. Owning to the fact that the fight for the left flank for Chan and thereafter starts today if Bobby decides to field a winger on the left, something Cranes have not done consistently of late. Further upfront, Robert Ssentogo (URA) and Brian Umony (KCC) have a huge task to keep Emma Okwi and Hamis Kizza, both playing their club football in Tanzania, out of the side.

Ssentogo has become an important squad player and this is the chance to push his case further whereas Umony has faded since scoring the lone goal to beat Kenya in the 2008 Cecafa final.

Bobby and the federation have a chicken and egg situation. Most times, winning means everything and in our case, success is only viewed in terms of trophies. If Cranes fail to win, it will be easy for the public to scream that the decisions to leave out Mwesigwa, Mawejje and others were totally wrong.

The bigger picture is lost in such discussions especially at a time when there is hardly anything to be positive about in Ugandan football as two leagues run co-currently.
These fights have drained the public sympathy and failure to win Cecafa for a 13th time will feel like a total letdown.

ikigongo@ug.nationmedia.com