Uganda Cranes Tuesday 30 hosted an international friendly against neighbors Kenya at Nelson Mandela Stadium, Noombole, a tight outing that ended in a barren draw.
Cranes boss Milutin “Micho” Sredojevic none the less is satisfied with the level of test his charges were subjected to despite misfiring. He is equally grateful to the Harambee Stars for honoring the match.
Uganda and Kenya, two giants of east African football, used the build up to gauge readiness for Sunday September, 4 AFCON 2017 qualifiers final lapse versus Comoros and Zambia respectively.
“We thank Kenya for answering our call to help us prepare for the great game on Sunday. It was a good match for us and now we have seen what we need to improve on. We have four training sessions and here we will work hard to be ready for Comoros,” Micho told CAF.
Micho men will be home to the Islanders whom they edged 1-0 a year back in the first leg, while Stars depart for Zambia on Friday to lock horns with Chipolopolo at the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium,Ndola. The Coach Stanley Okumbi’s charges lost the first stanza 2-1 in Nairobi last year.
The Comoros clash means heaven to the entire Ugandan football family, and nothing less than a win is good enough. Cranes are tied on ten points a piece in group “D” with Burkina Faso who have a better goals tally – and a straight win return them to the continental showpiece for the first time since 1978 and break the last day jinx. They could also sail through as one of the two best runner-ups.
The Serbian is a live to the last two hearts breaks where they failed to make it on the final day, and the former Rwanda’s Amavubi Coach is leaving no stone unturned to deliver the long awaited dream.
“We have learnt from the past mistakes and we are ready to make it to the big stage of Africa. It’s not a mistake we are here. We have gone in detail to make sure we leave no stone unturned for this game because it’s a game of ‘life and death’. He stressed.
Zambia, Kenya clash on the other is a dead rubber as both sides are out of contention for a spot in Gabon next year.
@bonfaceosano
