Positives from Uganda’s 2018 World Cup qualifiers

Yet another World Cup will come and pass without our involvement. Not that we shall be sorely missed. We have never been.
And I could go on with the self-righteousness of a street prophet about how this was unlikely going to be the first time we did, given that we were grouped with Egypt and Ghana, but instead allow me to dwell on some positives.
To start with, ours was a group of death. Egypt might be only shading off a messy period and Ghana has probably regressed, but those two are Africa’s most successful football nations.
Furthermore, we can’t really pass off as being technically superior to Congo. In the circumstances, we gave a good account of ourselves losing only once to the impressive Egyptians in a closely contested game in Alexandria.
Then, and at the risk of sounding ridiculous, if you discount Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) 2017, this was the sixth tournament in a row that we were carrying hope till the very end. I am not promoting mediocrity here, but in its own strange way this represents progress, especially if you consider that our past hasn’t always been glorious. One could say, we now have a foundation to build upon.
And talking foundations, I see that we have a young team that could easily grow together over the next four or so years.
Denis Onyango is getting long in the tooth but remember his position has a long shelf- life.
So, Onyango can still be the spine of a team that includes Murshid Juuko, Khalid Aucho Muzamir Mutyaba, Kizito Luwagga, Emmanuel Okwi, Farouk Miya and Derrick Nsibambi.
This group has gelled over the last three campaigns. It doesn’t require a lot to turn it into a force at Afcon 2019 and thereafter Qatar 2022 perhaps?
On that note, I can’t help but point out that the matter of national team management has dragged on. It is clear the current management is serving in an interim capacity. It gives off the impression of a team stuck in an unmarked lounge, completely unsure whether it is departing or arriving.
The stability needed to turn a fresh page and move onto our next challenges will not be provided by such indecisiveness. The next manager, whether that is going to be Moses Basena or someone else, must be confirmed soonest.
Having said that, the learning curve is still steep and there is a lot we could have done better. Inexperience cost us a result in Alexandria. And in Kampala versus Ghana last weekend, if there was anyone I would have wished got an opportunity to head the ball, it would have been Nisbambi. He did and headed wide. These things happen, but we can learn from them.
And those lessons will be futile unless they enable us to establish the fearlessness we exhibited in Cairo and Accra as irreducible minimums. If that continues to happen, World Cup qualification can’t be that far away.
But in the meantime, back to the small matters of Chan 2018 and Afcon 2019.