The Uganda Cranes are looking forward to tomorrow, May 22 to edge out a Kenya's Harambe Stars in a bid to qualify for the CHAN finals to be played in Sudan next year.

This is the second phase of the matches set to be played by the qualifiers and to reach this stage, Uganda knocked out Burundi after demolishing the visitors 4-0 at Namboole during the first leg.

This is however, the only chance for Uganda to appear in the finals of the continental tournament in a period of 32 years; they last participated in the AFCON finals in Ghana in 1978.

In the region, Uganda looks to be having a strong team with potential talents. From the Coca Cola Fifa rankings, Uganda is the only East African team in the top 100 countries in the world; the rest are above.

 During their training at Old Kampala, the Cranes' Coach Bobby Williamson affirmed that his team is ready and on form with the players eager to represent the country in any continental final ties.

The players  
During the qualifying round against Burundi, many Cranes players showed they deserved to be on the national team. They include Sula Matovu, Tony Odur (the three-goal hero), Sadam Juma, Isaac Isinde, Mudde Musa and Noah Semakula.

These joined Simon Masaba (Captain), Mike Serumaga, Anthony Bongole, Hannington Kalyesubula, Edward Ssali, Godfrey Walusimbi and Hamza Muwonge to mention but few.

The same squad is in camp to face-off with the Harambe stars tomorrow. Talking to The Sunrise on phone, team captain Simon Masaba said the squad is in good mood and ready for the win "we are ready for the game, every player is okay and focused therefore we have to win," he said.

Injury worries
Apart from Simon Sserunkuma who was ruled out due to an ankle injury, the rest of the squad is available for the game. Tony Odur and Owen Kasule returned to the squad and is fit to lead the attacking and midfield respectively.
 
The coach

Since his takeover as the head coach, Bobby Williamson has changed many things at the Cranes. For the AFCON campaign, Uganda was unlucky to play in the finals but Bobby has almost done what he was supposed to do.

He selects appropriate players, knows the right players and the system. This has enabled him to maintain the winning mentality at home but he remains to solve to losing run aways from home as it has been the prime reason behind the Crane's failure to qualify for the AFCON finals.

In this CHAN tournament, Uganda faces a regional side which he knows well.
It's therefore hoped that basing on the Scot's experience in the region, the Cranes are likely not to face strong resistance in tomorrow's game against Kenya. blog comments powered by Disqus