Cranes arrive in Kigali buzzing

KAMPALA. It would be stretching it to read too much into the small fact that Uganda have now scored six times without reply in their last two matches.
One of them, played on Wednesday, was just a practice game against champions KCCA at Lugogo.
Besides, it was also against a weakened KCCA outfit, with several of their stars starring for Cranes, never mind both teams star man Muzamiru Mutyaba and a few other fairly experienced Cranes players sitting out the build-up match.
But there is always something special about practice; about doing something over and over again.
That is why coach Moses Basena’s men, who are lodged in at Galaxy Hotel after arriving in Kigali yesterday evening, will not complain about their comfortable 3-0 friendly victory over KCCA, the same scoreline against Rwanda last Saturday.
That is the kind of result - thanks to strikers Erisa Ssekisambu, Nelson Ssenkatuka and Martin Kizza - you want to carry into the penultimate match before, hopefully, confirming your presence at next year’s Africa Nations Championship (Chan).
It even gets better confronting the home side in the knowledge that you have one of the meanest defences having conceded just once in the last three Chan qualification matches - plundering eight along the way.
“Team work will remain key in the second leg against Rwanda in Kigali,” emphasized goalkeeper Ismail Watenga, who kept a clean sheet in the first leg, “We shall work as a unit to maintain another clean sheet.”
Win, draw and anything but a 4-0 defeat would see Uganda make it four straight qualifications to the home-based players tournament, which kicks off in Kenya early next year.

2018 CHAN QUALIFICATION, FINAL ROUND
First leg: Uganda 3-0 Rwanda
Return leg: Rwanda vs Uganda