Uganda, Senegal, Ivory Coast, DR Congo. Group B at the 7th edition of the Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) that kicks off in Algeria on January 13, 2023, is as tough as they come at such major continental tournaments.

Even though only Uganda and DR Congo were in Morocco for the 2020 tournament finals, the pedigree of both Senegal (ranked 1st in Africa by CAF) and Ivory Coast (ranked 9th) is unquestionably intimidating.

In fact, only Uganda in the group, has never qualified from the group stage out of the five times they have been at the tournament, with DR Congo winning twice (2009, 2016).

Senegal finished fourth (2009) and Ivory Coast third (2016) which makes Uganda look like the pushover in the group. Their 17th CAF ranking too; the lowest in the group, doesn’t make things any easier. This might be Uganda’s sixth consecutive qualification for the finals but in terms of progress, the country hasn’t moved an inch from their first participation in 2011.

Action time

Uganda will open next year’s tournament with DR Congo before taking on Senegal and then, Ivory Coast last. The making of Morocco; the African representatives in the quarter-finals at FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, was CHAN. Winning back-to-back championships in 2018 and 2020 set the nation up for construction that allowed them to embrace a philosophy and approach that suit Moroccan players to the extent that both domestically based players and professional players could seamlessly fit.

Of the 25-man world cup squad that went to Qatar, only three players are home-based; all featuring for reigning CAF Club Champions League champions Wydad AC.

Of these, only left-wing back Attiat-Allah makes the starting 11.

Such is the quality in depth for Morocco that their CHAN champions of 2018 and 2020 are represented by only three players at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Morocco will be defending their title in Algeria.

Cameroon, Senegal and Ghana; the other African representatives at the World Cup also qualified for CHAN 2022 in Algeria.

Only Tunisia will be missing among the five who were in Qatar. You can be sure that very few of the players we shall see in Algeria featuring for these teams were part of the squads that were in Qatar. Uganda will therefore have a good chance to match their talent or quality with that of Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire and DR Congo.

Good chance

If Uganda; the highest-ranked team in the East African region, and also the most successful in regional competitions has still failed to make the grade from the group stage after five attempts, could it be the measure of talent we have in the region weighted against the Northern, Western, Central and Southern regions? The CHAN has been won by nations like DR Congo and Libya who have nothing to show at the level of the Africa Cup of Nations.

Even Sudan has won bronze on two occasions (2011, 2018). Rather than discourage Uganda, this competition history is key for coach Milutin Sredojevic to find the motivation to inspire his team for Algeria.

“This might be Uganda’s sixth consecutive qualification for the finals but in terms of progress, the country hasn’t moved an inch from their first participation in 2011.”

To break the CHAN jinx for Uganda, everyone involved on the technical wing and management must realize that it’s realistic to set as a primary objective for the team to qualify from the group. That should be the only measure of success in Algeria such that any further progress must be seen as bonus.

High target

FUFA should therefore change their competition incentive scheme from win bonus to knock-out qualification. The players must mentally psyche themselves to achieve a higher goal since mere qualification is no longer news. On this account, FUFA should take the preparations very seriously as indeed Uganda doesn’t have many opportunities to gauge the true strength of our national teams.

The culture of playing for mere qualification for tournaments must be done away with and instead be replaced by a more sustainable development system, which can keep a team together for much longer that it’s been happening.