Uganda Cranes understudies counting their chances in friendly games
Warm down session: National team players in practice in Niamey. PHOTO by fufa media
KAMPALA.
Cranes coach Sebastien Desabre’s men currently camped in Niger are outdoing themselves to impress the French purist.
With one friendly against Central Africa Republic (CAR) already ticked off, players still have one more chance against hosts Niger on Saturday to further make their case ahead of the 2019 Afcon qualifiers resumption.
‘It’s a great opportunity for me to prove myself that I’m worth the call up from the coach,” said Salim Jamal, the El Merreikh goalkeeper, who - together with KCCA’s Charles Lukwago - are Denis Onyango’s understudies.
“I pray that all goes well and I do my best to prove to the coach that am ready and I can always be called on whenever our first choice Denis Onyango is not available.”
The other player that will be keen to leave an imprint in Desabre’s plans is Denmark based midfielder Moses Opondo.
Opondo is one of the fresh faces summoned by Desabre for this one-week camp in Niger ahead Tanzania in September, Lesotho in October and Cape Verde the following month.
“I am looking forward to my debut when I pull on the Uganda colors,” said the 20-year old, “I still need to prove my worth for this selection,” added the Vendsyssel FF midfielder, who was odds on to make his debut in last night’s match against CAR.
Uganda started the 2019 Afcon qualifying campaign in the best way possible; beating tricky Cape Verde 1-0 away to take charge of Group A after one game.
They next face Tanzania on September 7 before back-to-back encounters with Lesotho the following month.
The Cranes are bidding to qualify for the continental finals for the second successive time after breaking a 40-year jinx with Gabon 2017 appearance.
