Harambee Stars stand in Cranes’ way to 13th

Soccer. The winner of the final will take home US$30, 000 (about Shs78m) with runners-up pocketing US$20, 000 (Shs52m).

All it has taken is five games, 11 goals and none conceded to put Uganda Cranes on the brink of another Cecafa Tusker Challenge Cup title.
The champions must beat arch-rivals Kenya under floodlights at Namboole today in a repeat of the tournament opener two weeks ago.

Geoffrey ‘Bab’ Kizito’s goal gave Uganda a 1-0 victory in that group A game. It’s perhaps the most fitting finale to a fading regional tournament going by the not so impressive crowd.

Uganda and Kenya are the two most successful sides. However, the gulf is quite big with Uganda on 12 titles and Kenya a distant second on five. Some fans even found the audacity to chant; “We want Spain, Kenya is weak,” after the finals’ line-up was confirmed on Thursday night.

“It is going to be a difficult game just like the rest we have played against them,” Bobby retorted after the 3-0 rout of Tanzania to get this far.
Connotations of the goalless draw with Kenya at Namboole last October that kept Uganda out of the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations will serve as motivation.
After Kenya beat Zanzibar 4-2 on penalties following a 2-all stalemate in the first semifinal, there was a minor confrontation between Ugandan and Kenyan fans in the stands.

The tone is set. Four years ago, Bobby, then newly appointed as coach here to replace Laszlo Csaba, won the Cecafa in January 2009 with a Brian Umony goal in a 1-0 win over Kenya in January 2009.

That was the first of Cranes’ three titles in four editions of the annual regional tournament. Like Umony then, Robert Ssentongo has worked his way into Bobby’s heart. The URA striker was on the bench but four goals later, his place in the 11 is a guaranteed as Hassan Wasswa leading out the side to the sound of vuvuzelas.

Loved player
“Ssentongo is the player I love. He is my type of player. He is disciplined, works hard and never stops,” Bobby, also a striker in his heydays, said.

The striker scored the second and third after Emmanuel Okwi’s blistering opener, his first of this year’s tournament, in the semi-finals. Okwi limped off with a thigh problem to add to Umony’s injury suffered in the quarterfinals. Both will be late calls to make the final.

Not many changes are expected from Bobby. What is more important between scoring to win and taking the clean sheet tally to five?
“My first target in every game is to make it hard for the opponents to score against us,” Bobby responded.
If there is one single area Kenya has done well so far, it’s got to be the midfield where Humphrey Mieno has looked sleek.

Stopping the lanky midfield ace, the way Wasswa and Kizito snuffed out Tanzania’s playmaker Mrisho Ngassa in the semis, is a start.
“We have had a good tournament, tough we still have work ahead of us. This is fantastic team and we shall defend the trophy,” Wasswa vowed.
ikigongo@ug.nationmedia.com