Cranes coach Micho Sredojević promises not to favour any soul as he names his 30-man squad today to start preparations for the African Nations Championship (Chan) finals in Rwanda due next month.

Not even the 19 players that lifted the Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup at the beginning of this month are guaranteed tickets to the January 17- February 7 biennial showpiece.
“Just know, the Cecafa honeymoon is finished,” Micho told Daily Monitor.

“Not all the 19 players have satisfied standards demanded by Chan. Counter is on zero, so let us give chance to all players capable of carrying that holy jersey full of Ugandan dreams.”
“Honestly, our standards need to drastically rise if we want to fulfill ultimate Chan dream of passing group and reach quarterfinals,” Micho added.

Out of the 30 players that start training on January 4, Micho will only need 24 and he has until January 7 as the deadline to confirm the final squad.

The final squad will play two friendlies against two Chan bound sides in Gabon on January 10 and Cameroon three days later at the Njeru Technical center in Jinja. “Those two sides will give us a clear picture of what to expect.”

AFRICAN NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP

When: January 17 – February 7
Where: Rwanda
HOW THEY ARE POOLED
Group A: Rwanda, I.Coast, Morocco, Gabon
Group B: DRC, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Angola
Group C: Tunisia, Guinea, Niger, Nigeria
Group D: Zimbabwe, Zambia, Uganda, Mali
Uganda’s fixtures
January 19: vs. Mali
January 23: vs. Zambia
January 27: vs. Zimbabwe
Build-up matches
January 10: Uganda vs. Gabon
January 13: Uganda vs. Cameroon