Why Desabre has to fix Cranes’ scoring woes

Ugandan sport has toasted to a number of success stories this year not least Joshua Cheptegei’s long distance double at the Commonwealth Games.
The 22-year-old didn’t waste any time asserting himself in the post Mo Farah track era. Given the mixture of annoyance and concern that greeted Cheptegei’s spectacular meltdown during the 2017 World Cross Country Championships in Kololo, his exploits in Gold Coast will be the standout story for many observers by some distance.

If there is a distant second, it has to be the Cranes inviting perpetual fascination and disbelief with a 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign that was as serene as it could possibly get. Cranes fans have over the years handled the prospect of smooth campaigns gingerly, if they acknowledged them at all. Siren calls always seemed to bring complex permutations into plain view.
Not this time as qualification to African football’s Mecca was guaranteed with a game to spare.

The outlook wasn’t always that bright. Sebastien Desabre was widely seen to be of questionable utility after he superintended over too many glaring inconsistencies during what was by all accounts a tough start to his career as Cranes coach. He portrayed the picture of a chronically indecisive man when a goalless draw at home to Tanzania left him with a pained look on his face.
Cranes faithful were livid but crucially for the Frenchman his employer -- Fufa -- was willing him to succeed instead of plotting his demise. The rest, as they say, is history.
But there is a reason as to why this success story is a distant second.

Right mix
While Desabre used just the right mix of contrition and charm to gradually win back Cranes fans, goals -- or at any rate what occasions them -- dried up. Although the Frenchman didn’t quite promise that goals would pour in torrents, a return of six of them in four 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers betrays the attacking philosophy he claims to espouse.

If the Cranes are intent on not making up the numbers at next year’s Afcon finals, they will have to collectively find their shooting boots. It was hardly surprising that they found themselves on the next flight back home from Gabon after mustering the solitary goal in as a many matches at the 2017 Afcon finals. Another goal shy performance will destroy at a stroke any possibility of reaching the business end, and -- by extension -- chances of ruling the roost in 2019 as Cheptegei did 2018.