Cranes vow to take fight to Guinea

Andy Mwesigwa (14) during the 2014 African Nations Cup Qualifiers on September 10 at Namboole.

What you need to know:

Soccer. Defender Savio Kabugo’s lone strike restored Uganda’s hopes of ending a 37-year absence from the Nations Cup, and the Cranes will now go into Wednesday’s final match of the campaign against Guinea more positive

Afcon results
Algeria 3-1 Ethiopia
Cape Verde 3-1 Niger
Egypt 0-1 Senegal
Togo 1-4 Guinea
Angola 0-0 Gabon
Congo 0-2 Nigeria
Cameroon 1-0 D.R. Congo
Lesotho 0-1 Burkina Faso
Mozambique 0-1 Zambia
South Africa 2-1 Sudan
Uganda 1-0 Ghana
Malawi 2-0 Mali
Saturday’s display may have not been box office material, but few will beat its significance as Uganda continue the fight to get rid of the ‘since 1978’ tag. Yes. It has been that long, the Nations Cup absence.
But the moment when defender Savio Kabugo raced to head in from that Mike Sserumaga corner for Uganda’s goal on nine minutes could have edged the country closer to ending that misfortune.
It was a team effort, nonetheless. Dennis Onyango had little to deal with but his authority and command of an equally notable backline of skipper Andy Mwesigwa, Kabugo and Brian Majwega was impressive.
Tonny Mawejje was majestic in front of them, although subdued Geoffrey Massa did not get the service he would have wanted. But there was an inspiring second half performance from Daniel Sserunkuma, who replaced injured Yunus Ssentamu.
One inescapable trait in that Cranes team, even Ghana self-destructed or wasted their chances through profligate Christian Atsu and Majeed Waris, was the ‘fight.’ The boys had a fight.
It is the same fight they will have taken to Casablanca, Morocco last evening, where a draw against Guinea on Wednesday will be enough to see Uganda qualify, regardless of what happens between Ghana and Togo.
“We shall prepare ourselves very much because even for Ghana, Guinea and Togo, it is obsession to repeat it; an obsession to go back to the Africa Cup of Nations,” said Cranes coach Micho Sredojevic.
“For us it is a dream, and a dream is always bigger than obsession. So the dream has to be our driving force.”
With one game to go, Ghana top Group E standings with eight points, Uganda and Guinea both on seven but the Cranes with a better goal difference, and Togo with six.

PLAYER RATINGS

5. Farouk Miya. Like it was in the recent 3-0 friendly win over Ethiopia, Miya looked lost in the middle.

6/5. Mike Sserumagga. The ball was never around his left foot as he would have wanted. His corner kick assisted Kabugo’s winner but didn’t pick out the strikers and wingers regularly.

5/5. Luwagga Kizito. His form seemed to have gone out of the window as early as Match Day 2. He struggled to impress against Ghana’s wing-backs Harrison Afful and Baba Rahman.

4. Yunus Sentamu. He wasn’t in the best shape to start this fixture. The vindication was the yellow card he got in frustration after fouling Ayew before giving way to Sserunkuma.

6. Geoffrey Massa. His solo runs didn’t bother the Jonathan Mensah and John Boye combo but kept them busy.

7. Daniel Sserunkuma. He had a good overall and probably, should have started with Massa. The Gor Mahia forward often dropped off to give Majwega support.

6. Geoffrey Kizito. Despite joining the camp late, Kizito neutralized Mubarak Wakaso, Badu and Asante’s offensive efforts.

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