The Cranes of Uganda might be underdogs on paper in Group A heading into the biennial showpiece in Egypt but possesses a fearsome team that can cause upset in a group that contains host nation Egypt, who is highly tipped to top the group as well as Zimbabwe and DR Congo.
With a Runners-Up berth in 1978 being their best performance so far, Coach Sebastian Desabre and his energetic team would fancy their chances of making it to the knock-out stage of the 24 nations’ tournament scheduled from June 21 to July 19, 2019.
The cranes would be making their 8th appearance at the African Cup of Nations with high hopes as their coach Desabre, who guided them to a group stage exit in the previous edition in 2017 at Gabon knows well the African terrain having had stints with some big clubs in Africa including Wydad Casablanca of Morocco and Esperance of Tunisia.
Player to Watch: Denis Onyango
As captain of the Cranes, Denis Onyango will have to serve as a leader and motivator for the team when they take to the field on June 22 as they come up against DR Congo for the second game in Group A.
Plying his trade for South African based club Mamelodi Sundowns, the energetic goalkeeper has won the CAF Champions League in 2016 and won the CAF Goalkeeper of the year as his club won the South African league.
With so much experience, the 34-year-old shot-stopper would have to command his backline with authority to avert conceding goals in a bid to making it out of the group stages to upset either host nation Egypt or DR Congo.
Fixtures:
- DR Congo Vs Uganda – 6/22/19 – 17:30
- Uganda Vs Zimbabwe – 6/26/19 – 20:00
- Uganda Vs Egypt – 6/30/19 – 20:00
By Emmanuel Asante Attakora