Talking to New Vision sports writer James Bakama, former FUFA president, John Semanobe warns that Ugandan fans should not rely on the theory of home ground advantage ahead of the Cranes' side match against Zambia.
I am surprised that Ugandans are over confident that the Cranes will beat Zambia next weekend.
The general attitude is that since we lost by a small margin (1-0) in the first leg in Ndola, we shall catch up in the return leg.
This group of fans argue that after all, isn’t Namboole our Katiro (Killing field)? Haven’t giants like Nigeria, Ghana, Angola and Senegal all been humbled at Namboole?
I don’t like it all.
There is actually more talk of how we shall beat Zambia, than serious preparations for what could turn out as one of our toughest matches.
True, we have in recent years built a solid home record. But we should also remember that in the modern game, issues like home ground at times don’t matter.
The most important thing in our case is that we lost the first leg. A loss is a loss, whatever the magnitude.
What we should be doing right now is working very hard to ensure that we edge the Central Africans to the AFCON slot.
On a comparison between the Cranes of our times and the current side, I must say that ours was too good a side.
We were one of the continent’s best. We could handle any of Africa’s heavyweights.
The likes of Zambia at the time were just up coming. But while the sport continued growing in Zambia, ours seems to have at one point stagnated.
As for Saturday’s match, I call upon the Cranes to create as many chances as possible. It’s then that we can win with a comfortable margin.
I wouldn’t place the burden of scoring on any particular department.
In modern football, anyone can score. It is not like in our days where roles were limited to specific departments.
Football today is more rotational. Anyone can score. So, the person who will lift us on October 13 could be a defender.
Former FUFA boss says Cranes should create plenty of chances
By John Semanobe
I am surprised that Ugandans are over confident that the Cranes will beat Zambia next weekend.
The general attitude is that since we lost by a small margin (1-0) in the first leg in Ndola, we shall catch up in the return leg.
This group of fans argue that after all, isn’t Namboole our Katiro (Killing field)? Haven’t giants like Nigeria, Ghana, Angola and Senegal all been humbled at Namboole?
I don’t like it all.
There is actually more talk of how we shall beat Zambia, than serious preparations for what could turn out as one of our toughest matches.
True, we have in recent years built a solid home record. But we should also remember that in the modern game, issues like home ground at times don’t matter.
The most important thing in our case is that we lost the first leg. A loss is a loss, whatever the magnitude.
What we should be doing right now is working very hard to ensure that we edge the Central Africans to the AFCON slot.
On a comparison between the Cranes of our times and the current side, I must say that ours was too good a side.
We were one of the continent’s best. We could handle any of Africa’s heavyweights.
The likes of Zambia at the time were just up coming. But while the sport continued growing in Zambia, ours seems to have at one point stagnated.
As for Saturday’s match, I call upon the Cranes to create as many chances as possible. It’s then that we can win with a comfortable margin.
I wouldn’t place the burden of scoring on any particular department.
In modern football, anyone can score. It is not like in our days where roles were limited to specific departments.
Football today is more rotational. Anyone can score. So, the person who will lift us on October 13 could be a defender.
