Performances of lowly sides at 2023 Afcon teem with countless lessons for The Cranes

Minnows that barely make it to flagship football tournaments like the Africa Cup of Nations or Afcon are usually expected to be no different from that lone hanging bulb that casts the room in jaundiced light. And that is if they have little tolerance for error. Short of that, the room is bound to be enveloped in darkness.

At the ongoing Afcon finals in Ivory Coast, most of the so-called minnows have been spared the embarrassment of dim showings thus far. They have worked feverishly, and also managed to channel their footballing fervour. Heck, they have not needed our love or approbation because they have purpose.

It was not so long ago that Guinea found the experience of coming up against Cameroon traumatically disheartening. Now, with—it must be added—the whole of ten men for a little over half the duration of a match, they can dare to clamber into Cameroon's space—the limelight. 

The descent of Ghana, another multiple Afcon winner, has not carried with it lingering disquiet. And rightly so. The emotional tenor of their fans speaks to the fact that once upon a time the Black Stars were not expected to find the going tough against the likes of Cape Verde at the big time. Yet they lost 2-1 at the hands of the islanders the other day.

If it is any consolation, Cameroon and Ghana were not the only powerhouses to fall prey to darkness during the first round of group matches in Ivory Coast.

Like Ghana, Algeria was undone by a winner at the death against, wait for it, Namibia. Yes, Namibia. Elsewhere, Nigeria just about managed to share the spoils with rank outsiders Equatorial Guinea. 

It is crystal clear that during the first round of group matches minnows could not see, or perhaps refused to see, what the form book dictated. But, then again, that is only half the story.

Despite their lowly opponents embodying temperance and humility, or in fact because of it, powerhouses Senegal and Morocco cantered to runaway victories in their first round group matches. 

For Uganda, there is much more to learn from the contests other than the plain fact that both Senegal (The Gambia) and Morocco's (Tanzania) opponents were reduced to ten men.

While Senegal's Lamine Camara was helping himself to a high quality brace, Uganda's Derrick Kakooza was on the verge of having his contract with Coffee FC shredded. The Ugandan forward had spent the whole of four months on the books of the Ethiopian outfit.

You do not have to be exceptionally good at geometry and maths to work out how the worlds of Kakooza and Camara intersect. Both played at the U-20 Afcon, and had fans eating out of their palms. Kakooza in 2021 and Camara in 2023. The trajectories that their football careers took on after catapulting their respective teams to the final are well worth exploring.  

While Camara—named the 2023 U-20 Afcon tournament's best player—turns out for French top flight club FC Metz, Kakooza—the top scorer during the 2021 U-20 Afcon—is currently unattached. Camara turned 20 a few days ago. Kakooza will turn 22 in October.

The contracting fortunes of the youngsters tell their own story. It is quite evident that Senegal’s football system does a considerably better job preparing players to deal with the rapids of professional football than whatever we have in Uganda.

If this does not turn out to be a light-bulb moment for Ugandan football whose head, Moses Magogo, keeps laying claim to being the best thing since sliced bread, then your columnist does not know what will be!

In that—if it must be added—very likely event, whoever holds Ugandan football dear should brace themselves for more darkness. The bright sparks showcased by minnows at the ongoing Afcon in Ivory Coast notwithstanding.