Lessons must be learnt as Shaban, Daka continue to go separate ways

The Cranes's failure to splutter into life during the immediate past international break should come as no great surprise. Even to the uninitiated. A messy plot has unravelled fast in the ranks of the senior men’s national football team. It has fed darkly on a torrent of historical problems.

So when Morley Byekwaso was asked to hold the fort after the departure of Milutin 'Micho' Sredojević, the team should not have been expected to shine with renewed purpose. At least not with the snap of a finger.

While the interim coach does not pride himself on the rigour of his approach, as some of his curious selections attested, a definitive takedown of the Cranes shows that Byekwaso was not in over his head. In fact, it would be recklessly optimistic for us to expect Byekwaso to understand the Cranes in a way that none of his predecessors had ever had.

This does not mean that we should dismiss those who kept from the losses against Mali (1-0) and Zambia (3-0) the chilling vision of a coach out of his depth. Those that have come to view Byekwaso, and local coaches by extension, as something of a lightweight option have every right to do so. If Byekwaso and his charges were not pained by the poor impression their efforts made in both matches as Uganda was—surprise, surprise—held scoreless, then they deserve to be greeted with fierce displeasure.

Since your columnist does not believe this to be the case, my latest dispatch to you dear reader zooms in on a greater indignation that deserves to be condemned. This column has never shied away from showing its dismay at the fact that a willingness to be reckless has become the qualifying threshold for Fufa. 

The local football governing body's officials have made it their business to do nothing about not nurturing talent. Unfortunately, this is something that the football fraternity in Uganda has not been sufficiently concerned about. Ugandans are so muted, even matter-of-fact, about the short shelf life of their footballers. 

When Patson Daka's brace saw Zambia stuff three unanswered goals in the Cranes’ onion bag this past week, some fans felt a stab of regret. It pivoted around the cold fact that none of the Ugandans that came up against Daka in an Under-17 continental tie back in September of 2014 were in the frame for selection this past week.

This, as a matter of fact, is the true index of what assails Ugandan football. It is a damning indictment that we continue not to pay this daunting problem the slightest attention. It does not seem to matter that a generation that spawned the likes of Muhammad Shaban, Pius Obuya, Julius Poloto, Hassan Ssenyonjo, and Frank Tumwesige continues to blow hot and cold.

Shaban’s generation is, by the way, far from being an outlier. Byekwaso, who was in the dugout for the chastening midweek defeat against Zambia, took Uganda to a runners-up finish at the 2021 Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations. There is a general consensus that the growth—if any—of the nucleus of that team has been painfully slow. Most of the players that stood themselves in good stead during that championship in Mauritania such as Derrick Kakooza, the golden boot winner, have faced strong headwinds. 

A few others are already being spoken about in the past tense. Those blooded into the senior ranks like Isma Mugulusi and Kenneth Semakula have, perhaps, not been handled gingerly. Events have unsurprisingly conspired against them as despair that pushes through to hope threatens to be a mainstay.

We must continue to speak forcefully against such events that usually culminate in Ugandan football happily descending into rabbit holes. The acute analyses will, hopefully, give the bitter outlook the spoonful of sugar it desperately needs. As a matter of fact, the critiques should go to great lengths in demanding that Ugandan football does not rest on its laurels once success in age grade football is achieved. The whole nine yards have to be covered.