Afcon: Cranes need miracle to qualify

Uganda Cranes have not played at the Africa Cup of Nations since the 2019 edition which was hosted in Cairo, Egypt.

Back then, the team featured in back-to-back Afcons – they were also in the 2017 tournament in Gabon – and were on the verge of turning Cranes into regular participants in the continent’s most prestigious soccer competition.

But a strike over bonuses broke down the team’s spirit and almost inevitably led to the team’s exit with Senegal dumping Uganda out in the second round. The Cranes have since witnessed voluntary and involuntary retirements of senior players. The team has been chopped and changed, Micho Sredojevic has returned, and there has been an effort to execute a transition in the hope of building a squad formidable enough to mount a bid for the 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers.

But Thursday (September 7) night is of huge importance to the future of the current Cranes side. It presents the team with a chance to return to the Africa Cup of Nations, and despite Uganda not owning their destiny, there is confidence in the team camp that a victory over Niger in the neutral ground of Marrakech will suffice.

The mathematics is straightforward; if Uganda beat Niger by a handsome margin and Tanzania lose to runaway group winners Algeria, the Cranes will sneak through. Micho’s team need to take care of business against Niger and hope that Algeria succeed in qualifying with a 100 percent record.

Should the Taifa Stars manufacture a point in Algeria, Uganda will be out. Micho’s teams have never been known to be high-scoring, yet for Uganda to give themselves a chance today, they will have to score a couple of goals to be in with a shout.

Niger, meanwhile, are out of the reckoning. Plagued by a civil war back home, the Menas will be playing only for pride. History has shown that teams in such circumstances are usually hard nuts to crack. They have nothing to lose and will line up against Cranes under no pressure.

The Cranes, on the other hand, will be under pressure. An early goal in these circumstances is key to fray the nerves and the longer the game goes on without a goal, the higher the pressure. Both games, Niger versus Uganda and Algeria versus Tanzania, will take place at the same time. Both camps will be monitoring proceedings across the Morocco/Algeria border.

The Cranes arrived in Marrakech on Sunday evening and have acclimatised to the conditions in the city. Morocco, as a neutral venue, has never been a happy hunting ground for Uganda and the country will be hoping that Micho’s charges break the duck in a game of very high stakes.

Rogers Mato, who struck Uganda’s lone away goal in the campaign in that dramatic last-minute victory away to Tanzania, is expected to start up-front. Micho has also included Fahad Bayo, Frank Ssebufu and Richard Basangwa in his attackers knowing all too well that goals could determine whether or not Uganda return to the Africa Cup of Nations.

The inclusions of Isaac Muleme, Joseph Ochaya and Taddeo Lwanga are indicative that the coach is banking on experienced heads to do battle in a win-or-bust encounter. Should Uganda and Tanzania end up tied on goal difference and identical home and away goals scored, qualification will ultimately be decided by either a replay on a neutral ground or toss of a coin.