Prime
Cranes rise above Guinea
Okello made the difference from a freekick. PHOTO/EDDIE CHICCO
What you need to know:
Forward Allan Okello scored the lone goal to decide the game in a result that lifts Paul Put's charges to nine points and above Guinea who stay on seven points with Somalia bottom with one point before their game against Botswana.
The 2026 World Cup remains a long shot for the Cranes but they kept their slip qualification hopes alive with a 1-0 home win over Guinea at the Mandela National Stadium in Namboole on Tuesday evening.
Forward Allan Okello scored the lone goal to decide the game in a result that lifts Paul Put's charges to nine points and above Guinea who stay on seven points with Somalia bottom with one point before their game against Botswana.
The Cranes can therefore remain in third position should Botswana fail to win against Somalia.
The result also moved the Cranes to within three points of leaders Algeria and Mozambique who faced off in the late game.
In the meantime, the Cranes can celebrate a deserved victory which provided a reaction to last Thursdays 3-1 loss to Mozambique and forced coach Paul Put into four changes.
The result was also achieved after keeping the opponents including their Borussia Dortmund star striker Serhou Guirassy largely quiet infront of a lively half full Mandela stadium.
The result was also a reward for coach Put opting for a more attacking lineup that allowed the inclusion of two playmakers in Allan Okello and Travis Mutyaba.
The two would go on and provide the game's decisive moment on 36 minutes when Mutyaba turned away from his marker and surged forward before being brought down 25 yards from goal.
Okello then stepped up to curl the ball past the despairing hand of Guinean goalkeeper Soumaila Sylla.
The pair had earlier also orchestrated a fine team move involving Ronald Ssekiganda and Muhammad Shaban who released Okello.
The playmaker's pinpoint centre reached Mato whose shot was kept out by goalkeeper Sylla after 17 minutes.
The Cranes were then in the ascendancy and Okello released the marauding left back Aziz Kayondo whose cut back was cut out.
The impressive Kayondo then went on a forward run that this time found Shaban but the striker flicked his cross narrowly wide.
The Cranes however failed to add further goals as both teams struggled for cohesion in a largely pedestrian second half.
The game then flickered to life in the closing moments with Cranes goalkeeper Nafian Alionzi who replaced Ismail Watenga forced into a sharp save after a scramble in the box to draw a loud cheer from the crowd that erupted even further at the final whistle.
