It is a four-way test in filling Okwi’s boots

KAMPALA. Uganda Cranes coach Sebastien Desabre has repeatedly implored his team to be adventurous, more so at home, and will hope for the perfect answer this afternoon when they take on Cape Verde at Namboole.
Yet in suspended forward Emma Okwi, he will miss a reliable protagonist that has been the fulcrum of the team’s attack in the last five games. Put to the task to choose who of the available attacking options - Edirisa Lubega, Derrick Nsibambi, Milton Karisa and Patrick Kaddu- should pick up his baton, the Tanzania based striker was understandably noncommittal.
“The coach will choose who he wants to start but all the players can do the job. We are closest to qualifying and I believe the team will make it,” the former SC Villa striker revealed.
“I missed the last Afcon edition in Gabon but I believe I can play a vital part this time (in Cameroon). It is every player’s ambition to play at the biggest stage,” he added.
Cranes has scored six unanswered goal in four games this campaign and Okwi, has somewhat been an exception with his ability to draft to the wings, shake off his markers and shoot the opponents into tremor. His double against Lesotho at Namboole in the 3-0 rout showed all that Cranes can miss about him when faced with a Cape Verde side seeking vengeance – positional awareness, aerial threat and unpredictability.
Desabre is no stranger to surprise lineup changes; against Lesotho at home, he opened the doors for Austria based Lubega who responded with an assist, dynamic runs that stretched the opposition defence and staging that box presence reminiscent of Geoffrey Massa days.
Three days later in Maseru, he started with KCCA’s Kaddu who kept the defence on the back foot though he was far from scoring. He also attracted some attention from Okwi and two-goal hero Farouk Miya.
Enter Karisa into the fray, and Desabre will be trying out a new dimension since he has seemingly ignored him in the last two matches. Capable of drifting out in both wings and with envious pace to burn, Karisa can much to Cranes plans and give the Islanders’ backline of Carlos Ponck, Nivaldo Santos, Tiago Almeida and Fernando Varela torrid time. Desabre, in search of one point, can also opt to drop them all and go for versatile Miya as the lone forward in the 4-3-3 system, with Moses Waiswa and Allan Katerega offering him support.