Hockey Africa Cup of Nations 

Thursday game

Uganda 1Egypt 3(Men)

Friday game

Uganda V Namibia (Men)

The Hockey Cranes shift from the attacking play to a more defensive approach was of help but came late when Uganda could not make it to the semifinals but rather into the classification playoff.

Uganda started scoring through Timothy Ntumba in the second quarter, however, the Egyptians started their scoring tally and equalised then led the game 2 -1.

Hoc

Hockey Cranes head coach Franchesco Richichi made tactical changes that he believes enabled his side to play well against the defending champions.

“Coming into the last group game after having lost the second group game, I was under pressure but I cautioned my players to respect their opponents and attack on the break,” Richichi noted. 

Hockey Cranes team

Although the Egyptian defenders and midfielder posed a challenge to the Ugandan strikers by preventing them from scoring, Uganda’s goalkeeper Bosco Ochan was the best Ugandan player after a poor game he had against Nigeria on Tuesday.

Ochan who conceded nine goals against Nigeria, came into the game with butterflies in his stomach since he was facing the defending champions. He was on top of his game with numerous saves ranging from short corners and one on one attempts by the Egyptians.

“I  was very disappointed with my performance in the Tuesday game but I came into this game with a lot of confidence, and I put out my best though we lost,” noted the soft-spoken handyman.

Francesco continues to rally his players to play as a whole and aim at beating their next opponent Namibia in the next classification game.