Another Serbian for Cranes
Kavazovic claims he has a good knowledge of Ugandan players including left back Godfrey Walusimbi. COURTESY PHOTO
What you need to know:
Italian Dario Bonetti and Belgian Tom Sainfeit are the other candidates for the job.
With barely a week before even Bobby Williamson comes to terms that he no longer has rights to pull strings at the Cranes, three foreign coaches have expressed interest in taking up the vacant position, the latest being Serbian Nikola Kavazovic.
The others reportedly are Italian Dario Bonetti and a Belgian Tom Sainfeit.
The Federation of Uganda Football Associations (Fufa) fired Williamson on Monday following his failure to lead the Cranes to the Africa Cup of Nations, as he was mandated to do.
In an exclusive interview with the Daily Monitor yesterday, Kavazovic said he is no stranger to Ugandan football, expressing his belief in the talent that the country possesses.
“I know very well Ugandan players like [Emmanuel] Okwi, [Robert] Ssentongo, [Andy] Mwesigwa, [Baba] Kizito, [Joseph] Ochaya, [Moses] Oloya, [Godfrey] Walusimbi,” Kavazovic, who has 16 years of coaching experience, said on phone from his Asian base.
He added: “And I think this squad has potential to qualify for bigger tournaments in future. My opinion about quality and attitude of Ugandan players is very high and It will be my pleasure to work with them.”
Kovazovic, 37, says his philosophy is to play attacking football, made of high pressure and possession, having been an attacking midfielder in his playing days. “When my player loses the ball they must immediately try to repossess it,” he said.
He holds a Uefa “B” in Serbia, Uefa “A” in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and enrolled Uefa “Pro” coaching licences.
He currently coaches the Tajikistan national team and league champions FC Istiklol and he was the third best Serbian coach for 2012.
Fufa have said the next coach will certainly be better than Bobby, but it is not yet clear when he will be named. Cranes next match is against Liberia in the 2014 Fifa World Cup qualifiers on June 8 at Namboole stadium.
ABOUT KAVAZOVIC
He Started his coaching career in 1997 at Bask, a Serbian Premier League side. He was head coach of all youth academy squads, and coach of senior team. Between 2000 and 2003, he was director of BASK youth academy. As a Premier league coach, he was assistant scout and consultant of former Bayer Leverkusen coach Dragoslav Stepanovic in FK Cukaricki. Kavazovic is a Belgrade law school graduate. Besides football, Nikola likes tennis and movies. He has attended coaching lecturers from Sinisa Mihajlovic, Marcelo Lippi, Roberto Mancini, Alberto Zaccheroni.
