Without defending champions Morocco, the 7th edition of the Africa Nations Championships - CHAN 2022 – seems to be wide open.

Algeria and Cameroon have looked good but not too far superior. Mozambique, Madagascar and Uganda have also managed to register wins over unlikely opponents but not much to read from the results thus far until the full list of qualifiers for the knock out stage is known. For all the good intentions of this bi-annual tournament, the Algeria 2022 has poked gaping holes.

Three groups have four teams, while two groups have three teams meaning that qualified teams will not have played the same number of games in the group stage. With 17 teams turning up instead of the 18 originally intended, eyebrows have been raised.

Additionally, while all home-based players were supposed to compete for final squad selection for the tournament, it’s telling that most teams turned up in Algeria with largely youthful outfits mostly to showcase the grass root talent at their disposal, which raises the question of competitiveness.

Sredojevic on the spot

As an example, Uganda’s head coach Milutin Sredojevic defended the decision to include a couple of U-20 and U-23 because of the need to prepare the team for an assault on the FIFA World Cup 2026 US-Mexico-Canada qualification. He also added that there was a need to reward the players who helped the team qualify for CHAN 2022.

While on the face of it, the reasons are plausible, it begs the question of whether Uganda has a dream of ever winning CHAN, which is the minimum we can strive to be on top of the continent.

Clearly, unlike previous tournaments where Uganda was overwhelmed by the quality of their opponents in the groups; DR Congo, Senegal and Ivory Coast – pedigree and reputations notwithstanding – have similarly brought largely youthful teams.

“It will be a must win game for both sides which must force a change in formation and selection of the starting line-up. In the two games played so far, forwards Frank Ssebufu and Rogers Mato have been anonymous while attacking midfielder Moses Waiswa is yet to emerge from his cage.”

Group B, which Uganda currently leads with a win and draw ahead of the last group game, looks open. It’s why Uganda’s 1-0 surprise win over Senegal on Tuesday was received with a bitter taste in the mouth.

The Cranes secured the win by battling hard in the middle of the park, defending doggedly, keeping a low block and benefiting from goalkeeper Nafian Alionzi’s outstanding performance before capitalising on a defensive mistake to score through captain Milton Karisa.

It’s hard to remember any other open chances or attacking aggression from the Cranes which is why defensive midfielder Kenneth Semakula won the man-of-the-match award.

Do-or-die

Today’s final group game against Ivory Coast who will be chasing a first win at the tournament after losing to Senegal and drawing to DR Congo will shed more light about the true potential of this Cranes team. It will be a must win game for both sides which must force a change in formation and selection of the starting line-up. In the two games played so far, forwards Frank Ssebufu and Rogers Mato have been anonymous while attacking midfielder Moses Waiswa is yet to emerge from his cage.

Most impressive has been the defence of Geoffrey Wasswa, Gift Fred and James Begisa whose physicality and co-ordination have helped maintain a solid wall. There have been no signs yet, that the Cranes technical team is willing to take risks and throw on more creative attacking players as a strategy.

If Uganda qualifies from the group for the first time, it will be recorded as an achievement but what happens if they don’t? It will be impossible to evaluate the true quality of the team and assess the talent that is coming through.

The mission to go all out after and lay siege on World Cup qualifying opponents from other regions will then become harder.

Micho has one more chance to show us that all things are possible by going for an outright win against Ivory Coast tonight. If Uganda reigned over Senegal, they can do a repeat against Ivory Coast. Micho must come out with bold tactics and let the dogs out. We wait.