Cranes desperate to exit Afcon with scalp of Mali

GABON.

The Cranes bus ride from Stade Port Gentil back to the team’s base at Hotel Du Parc was a mixture of emotions, thoughts and pensiveness.
The 25-minute ride from the stadium seemed to take forever with many players disappointed at having lost to an Abdallah El-Said goal scored two minutes to full-time.

Yesterday, the team made the short chartered flight to Oyem low on morale after an energy-sapping defeat to the Pharaohs, but the players have vowed to give their best in Wednesday’s match against Mali.

The game will be of no consequence to Cranes but the Malians have a mathematical chance of advancement.

“I will pick the strongest possible side,” Cranes coach Micho Sredojevic told Daily Monitor. “We lost two games to a mistake and a late defensive lapse but against two quality sides that are used to playing at the Africa Cup of Nations.”

Something in the pocket
“Against Mali, we want to depart with a victory for our fans here and the people back home in Uganda because they have put in a lot to support the boys. We also want to leave the tournament with something in the pocket and obviously it won’t be easy against a very strong Mali team that is fighting for qualification.”

Veteran Cranes midfielder Tonny Mawejje, who was impressive against Egypt, was left crushed by Saturday’s result.

“We are very disappointed,” Mawejje remarked. “We worked hard all through and felt we were going to hold out against Egypt but it was not meant to be.”

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“Now we must lift ourselves for the Mali game because it is the next game for Uganda; we do not want to fly back home without a positive result at the Nations Cup.”

The team is going to continue with intense preparations for the Mali match because ‘there are several lessons to learn for a country like Uganda’ according to Micho.

“You must remember that Uganda has been away for so long and whatever they (players) are experiencing is something like a new learning at the highest level of the game in Africa.”

Russia 2018 dream
Egypt, like Ghana, are Uganda’s World Cup opponents and Mawejje sees no reason why Cranes should not attempt to qualify for the Russia 2018 Fifa World Cup.

“We lost to both teams but these Afcon games will help us prepare for the World Cup qualifiers because Egypt are not what they once were and Ghana is a familiar opponent.”

Uganda sit second to Egypt in the World Cup qualifiers and have a double header with the Pharaohs later in the year. Goalkeeper Denis Onyango’s belief in Cranes chances of an improbable 2018 World Cup place is high.

“We are here because we deserve to be there (second on the table) and it is a good thing that we have gauged ourselves against Egypt. By the time we play them in the World Cup, we will know who exactly that are and I believe we didn’t look shabby (on Saturday).”
Crucially, however, the team must devise a solution to the striking conundrum that has been Uganda’s handicap in the qualifiers and at Gabon 2017.

RESULTS - GROUP D MATCHES
Ghana 1-0 Togo
Egypt 1-0 Uganda