2022 AFRICAN NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFICATION

Central Eastern Zone ⚽️

Second leg: Uganda 🇺🇬 3-0 Tanzania 🇹🇿 (Sept 3)
First leg: Tanzania 🇹🇿 0-1 Uganda 🇺🇬 (Aug 28)
(Uganda win 4-0 on aggregate)
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Uganda Cranes firmly stamped the metaphorical document their head coach Milutin Sredojevic (Micho) had talked of in the buildup, when they completed back-to-back wins over neighbours Tanzania (4-0 on aggregate) on Saturday to qualify for a sixth consecutive African Nations Championships (CHAN) finals.

A 3-0 victory at home applied the gloss to a blemishless triumph for Uganda over two legs of their qualification stage.

The Cranes headed into the second leg with the upper hand in the form of a 1-0 first-leg win from Dar es Salaam last Sunday, and they firmly built on that advantage in the reverse tie at St. Mary's Stadium, Kitende with a clean sheet to secure their spot in the January 2023 finals in Algeria.

Rogers Mato sealed Uganda's victory 15 minutes before time after second-half substitute Richard Basangwa added on Moses Waiswa's first-half opener from the spot that had put the hosts on the desired course.

Although the CHAN contest between these two neighbours is now done, this East African battle is far from over.

Attentions will now switch to qualification for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations - the continent's flagship tournament - where Uganda and Tanzania are grouped together.

The Cranes, currently sitting bottom of Group F after two games so far, will twice play the Taifa Stars later this month (September) in another double header. Algeria and Niger are their groupmates.

Moses Waiswa scored in the second leg against Tanzania

Cranes complete the CHAN test

Saturday's was a characteristically physical contest at Kitende.

Defender Bakari Nondo stirred Tanzanian nerves 12 minutes into the game when his jagged clearance inside the box allowed Mato a chance, but the Ugandan forward couldn't muster the right bearings to punish the visitors.

But not long after, Mato was again involved in a Cranes attack - this time going down on a turn under a challenge inside the area and referee Souleiman Ahmed pointing directly to the penalty spot.

Although the Tanzanians swarmed the Djiboutian in protest, he stuck to his decision and KCCA man Moses Waiswa stepped forward to send Aishi Manula the wrong way for the opener to improve the hosts' aggregate advantage in the 17th minute.

The Taifa Stars' opening-half penetration came mostly from the left wing, with captain John Bocco the chief architect of the lethal attacks that drew Ugandan defenders into a series of aerial clearances.

The home side lived dangerously on their edge.

This often forced the impressive Nafian Alionzi - the busier goalkeeper of the first half - to bark his displeasure at his defenders over the persistent unwanted attentions on his goal. In the closing stages of the opening half, the URA goalie was relieved to race on to Marvin Youngman's lucky interception inside the area after Tanzanian Daniel Hussein twisted past Gavin Kizito during a visitor attack.

Cranes had a jittery start to the second half, and almost got punished had a sliding Tanzanian skipper Bocco met a well-measured pass into the box five minutes after the interval.

But just when the visitors were beginning to grow in belief and build their momentum to claw back in the game, Basangwa, the man who came off the Cranes bench, made it two for the hosts when he rose to connect Waiswa's deep freekick swept in from the left flank.

The mountain to scale suddenly became steeper for Honour Janza's side but they were not going down without a fight. They still had it in them when Daniel Rueben struck the post from a freekick just outside the Cranes box after Livingstone Mulondo brought down Abdul Hamisi after losing the ball.

But then came the confirmation of the Tanzanians' fate.

Mato was rewarded for his versatility with a goal - Cranes' third on the day - to confirm the Zambian coach Janza's rude start to his interim reign in charge of the Taifa Stars.

Who else is through?

For CHAN, participating teams are split into the six zones for the qualification phase, with Uganda in the Central Eastern Zone.

The others are Nothern, Western A, Western B, Central and Southern. Three teams from each zone qualify for the finals, which will be in Algeria this time around.

Automatically through as the hosts, Algeria are joined by Morocco and Libya in the finals from the Northern Zone.

Uganda, Sudan and Ethiopia are the three Central Eastern Zone nations that have qualified to feature in the 18-nation finals.

Sudan progressed on Friday after brushing aside Djibouti 7-3 on aggregate (4-1 in the first leg and 3-2 in the second leg). After a goalless first leg last Friday, Ethiopia edged Rwanda 1-0 to advance.

Meanwhile, Madagascar will make their CHAN finals debut after overcoming Botswana 2-1 over two legs in the Southern Zone.

Can Uganda find a way past the group stage?

Interestingly, Uganda have never progressed from the group stage at the five CHAN editions they have featured in, with the 11 goals coming from eight different players: Yunus Sentamu (3), Saidi Kyeyune (2), Sadam Juma (1), Joseph Ochaya (1), Farouk Miya (1), Geoffrey Sserunkuma (1), Derrick Nsibambi (1) and Ibrahim Orit (1).

Can Micho steer his side into the knockout stage this time around in Algeria?

In 2011, Uganda were grouped with hosts Sudan, Algeria and Gabon and finished bottom, exiting the tournament with only one goal: Sadam Juma's late finish in a 1-2 defeat to Gabon.

In 2014, Uganda were in Group B with Morocco, Zimbabwe and Burkina Faso. They did not progress from the group after registering a win over Burkina Faso and a goalless draw against Zimbabwe to finish third. Yunus Sentamu scored Uganda's three goals of that edition.

In 2016, Uganda and Zimbabwe found themselves in the same group, alongside Zambia and Mali. Two points from three games were not enough to send Uganda through. In a 2-2 result against Mali, Joseph Ochaya and Farouk Miya were the scorers while Geoffrey Sserunkuma equalised in stoppage time against Zimbabwe.

In 2018, Uganda were in Group B with Ivory Coast, Zambia and Namibia. Derrick Nsibambi scored Cranes' only goal of that edition in a 1-3 defeat against eventual group winners Zambia.

In 2020, Uganda finished bottom of a group featuring Morocco, Rwanda and Togo. Saidi Kyeyune scored in a 1-2 defeat to Togo while Ibrahim Orit and Kyeyune were Uganda's scorers in a 2-5 loss to Morocco.