Sebastien to contact Miya, Luwagga

Frenchman Sebastien Desabre will be chasing his first victory as Uganda Cranes coach when Uganda play Ivory Coast in a dead rubber.
The two teams are already eliminated after losing to already-qualified Zambia and Namibia and the result at Stade de Marrakech will be academic. Cranes have nonetheless training intensely since exiting the competition with Sebastien still in the process of getting to grips with his players.
But he is already looking into the future as he continues with his job of rebuilding the national team and will not be travelling with the team back to Kampala tomorrow.
Instead he will fly to Europe for meetings with Portugal-based Kizito Luwagga and Belgian-based Farouq Miya.
It will be his first meeting with two of Uganda’s foremost attacking players as he seeks to establish their progress at club football while discussing his football philosophy.
Being an offensive-minded coach, it is of little surprise that he has opted to meet first two of the players he expects to internalize and integrate his adventurous approach.
After the Ivory Coast game, Fufa are planning a set of friendlies to keep that national team engaged considering that the next round of 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers will be played much later in the year.
For the Ivory Coast game, changes are expected to be rung as Uganda aim to finish a disappointing campaign with victory.
Sebastien was dismayed that Uganda’s opening matches against Zambia and Namibia had followed a similar pattern, with Cranes starting strongly and tiring in the second half. He has demanded the Bernard Muwanga-captained team to manage the ball as they did in large spells against Namibia but make it count.
The tournament meanwhile continued to disregard reputations with 2017 Africa Cup of Nations champions Cameroon also exiting at the group stage. The Indomitable Lions lost their second game to Angola 1-0 on Saturday to leave them out of contention. Congo Brazzaville are the shock leaders of Group D, followed by Angola.

Five things that went wrong at Chan

A case for defence
Uganda have conceded four goals at Chan in the opening two group B games. With such a leaky rear guard, it was always going to be impossible to make the quarter finals. In the first match against Zambia, Timothy Awany and Isaac Muleme looked unsure and the goalkeeper Benjamin Ochan made a howler that buried the team. The team defended much better against Namibia on Thursday night but failed to re-organise once Awany was controversially shown red midway through the second half of the game. Sebastien Desabre will have taken note as he makes his review notes from the tournament.

Goal-shy team
The biggest problem of the national team is a chronic inability to put away the few chances created by the team’s average midfield. Cranes had chances against Zambia and Namibia but there is a lack of genuine finishers to punish the opponent. Desabre had warned the team not to waste territorial advantage in the second match like they did against Zambia but his warning was betrayed by a lack of goal-grabbing in the mould of Geoffrey Sserunkuma. Uganda’s most urgent need today is a player who can hit the onion bag in the back of the net. It is a bigger need for the country than amendment of age or term limits.

Shaban injury
In the end you had to look back to the injury Mohammed Shaban suffered in training on his right ankle on Monday afternoon at Sport Marrakech Complex and wonder. Shaban’s pace and movement would have troubled Namibia’s slow rear guard and when Muzamir Mutyaba found himself through on goal, Desabre must have wished he had Shaban in the same position. With a fully fit Shaban, Uganda Cranes would perhaps still be in Morocco as competitors and not participants.

The mentality to win
Teams that win games are not necessarily the most talented. Namibia are a country of 2.5 million people but in games against Ivory Coast and Zambia, they played with the hearts of a country with 250 million people. Uganda has a population of 40 million but the country’s feeble performances were of a nation of 4 million people. Winning is an art that is not taught. The Namibians have showed that with stoppage time winners against Ivory Coast and Uganda, fighting to the very end and stealing unlikely victories. Uganda in contrast have started strongly and folded as the games wore down.

Transition
Under Micho Sredojevic, Cranes were a dogged team that was hard to break down. It was not the most pleasing team to watch for the purists but it gave away so few opportunities. The downside to that approach was that in 90 minutes, the team fashioned one or two chances at most.
Desabre is a positive coach who wants the team to take the game to the opponent as his line ups showed in games against Zambia and Namibia. Seeing that he was unveiled only three weeks ago, his methods and philosophy will take time to form the team’s DNA.
Cranes are transiting from pragmatic football to an adventurous game. And the cost of that transition manifested itself in Marrakech.

MARRAKECH NOTEBOOK

Team goes shopping
On Saturday, Uganda Cranes players were allowed afternoon shopping in Marrech city after the team held a rare morning practice session. Usually all the practice sessions have been in the afternoon but considering that yesterday was Sunday and today is match day with departure set for tomorrow, Saturday was their only time to get a feel of Marrakech’s shopping centres where they picked one or two items for themselves and their loved ones. The team thereafter returned to Palmeraie Resort to focus on tonight’s academic match with Ivory Coast, who has also been dumped out of the competition.

‘Easy’ Kolo Toure
Imagine you are a millionaire former footballer who played for Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City and Celtic and retain a technical role with the latter, your final club in a very illustrious career. What would you do, join the backroom staff of your national team!? Not quite. Unless your name is Kolo Toure, an Arsenal invincible from the 2003-04 season. The boy from Bouake has remained humble and has been dedicated at Ivory Coast training sessions picking cones and conducting drills with the national team. The older brother of Yaya Toure is famed for being down to earth with none of the arrogance associated with former professional footballers who had less than half his talent, wealth and career.

‘Cranes a good team’
The few Moroccan locals in Marrakech who have bothered to follow Uganda at Chan 2018 were impressed by Uganda at the competition. “I have watched both matches of the team and I think Uganda is a very good team technically that is only let down by being not sharp at goal,” observed Karim Bouffal. His views are shared by other locals who think the team can get better with a little polishing in small technical details. Cranes no doubt had their moments against Zambia and Namibia but you wonder whether the country would have taken ugly victories in the two group games over beautiful losses. No prizes for guessing.