Uganda rest World Cup hopes on forwards Nalukenge, Najjemba
Captain Nalukenge and industrious playmaker Najjemba will bear the burden of getting Uganda over the line on their young shoulders against Ethiopia today. PHOTOS BY JOHN BATANUDDE
What you need to know:
Both come with huge reputations; Nalukenge as Top Scorer at Cosafa with 18 goals and second top scorer at Cecafa with nine while Najjemba was also the Most Valuable Player at Cecafa. But they lost to Ethiopia at the senior level.
Uganda are high on confidence as they host Ethiopia today in the first leg of the first round of Africa’s Fifa Under 17 Girls World Cup qualifiers at Star Times Stadium - Lugogo.
Coach Ayub Khalifan’s side won the Cecafa and Cosafa U-17 competitions in Njeru and Mauritius last year and are looking to take the same momentum into their World Cup dream.
“The trophies are definitely a motivational rather than a pressure inducing factor for us,” Khalifan said ahead of the encounter with the Ethiopians that jetted in on Thursday.
“The girls feel like they are a stronger team but we do not want to be overly confident,” he added owing to the fact that the sides could clash in terms of playing styles.
Even though the rivalry between these sides stretches to 2002 for their senior sides, they are in their maiden World Cup campaigns at this level. They rely on an expansive game based on control of possession and freedom for the forwards.
Fauizia Najjemba
Being a home game, Khalifan is likely to allow Fufa Player of the Year and captain Juliet Nalukenge and Fauzia Najjemba all the freedom to wreck havoc in the opposition half.
Uganda certainly have the pressure to hold sizeable momentum before the second leg on January 26 in Addis Ababa.
The home fans will also demand more than a show of effort after Uganda showed it can dispatch giants like South Africa, Zambia, Tanzania and Kenya in the aforementioned tournaments.
Both forwards come with huge reputations; Nalukenge as Top Scorer at Cosafa with 18 goals and second top scorer at Cecafa with nine while Najjemba was also the Most Valuable Player at Cecafa.
Both also have unfinished business as they were part of the Crested Cranes side that lost 4-2 on aggregate to the Ethiopians in the first round of Africa’s Olympic Qualifiers in April.
Now they have another chance to etch their names deeper in history.
Uganda’s Probable XI:
Daphine Nyayenga (GK); Stella Musubika, Gillian Akadinda, Sumaya Komuntale, Bira Nadunga; Kevin Nakacwa, Shakira Nyinagahirwa; Catherine Nagadya, Fauzia Najjemba, Margaret Kunihira; Juliet Nalukenge (captain).
Fifa U-17 Girls World Cup Qualifiers
First Round
Today at Lugogo, 4pm
Uganda vs. Ethiopia
