Cranes CHAN opponents: Sudan is tricky
Feb 01, 2011
THE honour of hosting of an international tournament like the African Nations Championship (CHAN) could not have come at a stranger time for Sudan. After all, Sudan will be partitioned in two separate states in the coming months.
COUNTDOWN: WHO ARE GANDA’S CHAN OPPONENTS? TEAM: SUDAN
THE honour of hosting of an international tournament like the African Nations Championship (CHAN) could not have come at a stranger time for Sudan.
After all, Sudan will be partitioned in two separate states in the coming months. The results from the referendum on the independence of the south Sudan are in and the southerners have overwhelmingly voted in favour of a split.
Therefore, the CHAN will ostensibly mark as one of Sudan’s final pursuits before the country’s historic break-up – should it indeed go ahead as expected.
Football has been known to unite even the most divided countries. One of the most memorable illustrations of soccer’s conciliatory powers happened when Brazilian legend Pele visited war-torn Nigeria in 1967 to play in an exhibition match. The warring factions – happy to kill other for weeks – agreed to a 48-hour ceasefire to watch football’s greatest player.
Sudanese nationals, whichever side of the political divide, will draw pride from watching their flag flying at the 15-nation tournament. They will certainly want their country to prosper, at least for old time’s sake.
For this reason, the Sudanese national team is likely to be extremely motivated at the CHAN. Already carrying the burden of hosts, the Falcons of Jediane will not want to disappoint in their capacity as representatives of the soon-to-be former Sudan.
To this extent, the Uganda Cranes will have they work cut out when they meet the Falcons on February 8th at the Khartoum Stadium. Bobby Williamson is astute at motivating his players but in Sudan, they take on a team with a lot more to prove.
To complicate matters further, Sudan will field their full strength team at the tournament unlike the Cranes, who are basically taking a third string side. The last time Williamson took Uganda to Sudan, he pulled off an impressive 2-0 win thanks to a Brian Umony brace.
But that was almost two years ago and again, Uganda used a stronger team then. Only six players remain from the team that beat Sudan, a result that drew our attention to just how good Williamson is.
The Scot has been simply amazing. Besides his remarkable winning record, the most impressive thing about the Cranes coach is his adaptability. Ugandan football is full of nasty prizes – recently highlighted by the last-minute withdrawals of Godfrey Walusimbi and Dan Wagaluka from the Cranes CHAN team.
Williamson knows he will miss the pair but he has handled the incident with incredible poise, like he always does under similar circumstances. Rather than complain, Williamson simply stressed that no player is bigger than the team and that others will simply be promoted to cover the gap.
FUFA president Lawrence Mulindwa has made several mistakes but Williamson is not one of them. The CHAN will hopeful confirm this.
THE honour of hosting of an international tournament like the African Nations Championship (CHAN) could not have come at a stranger time for Sudan.
After all, Sudan will be partitioned in two separate states in the coming months. The results from the referendum on the independence of the south Sudan are in and the southerners have overwhelmingly voted in favour of a split.
Therefore, the CHAN will ostensibly mark as one of Sudan’s final pursuits before the country’s historic break-up – should it indeed go ahead as expected.
Football has been known to unite even the most divided countries. One of the most memorable illustrations of soccer’s conciliatory powers happened when Brazilian legend Pele visited war-torn Nigeria in 1967 to play in an exhibition match. The warring factions – happy to kill other for weeks – agreed to a 48-hour ceasefire to watch football’s greatest player.
Sudanese nationals, whichever side of the political divide, will draw pride from watching their flag flying at the 15-nation tournament. They will certainly want their country to prosper, at least for old time’s sake.
For this reason, the Sudanese national team is likely to be extremely motivated at the CHAN. Already carrying the burden of hosts, the Falcons of Jediane will not want to disappoint in their capacity as representatives of the soon-to-be former Sudan.
To this extent, the Uganda Cranes will have they work cut out when they meet the Falcons on February 8th at the Khartoum Stadium. Bobby Williamson is astute at motivating his players but in Sudan, they take on a team with a lot more to prove.
To complicate matters further, Sudan will field their full strength team at the tournament unlike the Cranes, who are basically taking a third string side. The last time Williamson took Uganda to Sudan, he pulled off an impressive 2-0 win thanks to a Brian Umony brace.
But that was almost two years ago and again, Uganda used a stronger team then. Only six players remain from the team that beat Sudan, a result that drew our attention to just how good Williamson is.
The Scot has been simply amazing. Besides his remarkable winning record, the most impressive thing about the Cranes coach is his adaptability. Ugandan football is full of nasty prizes – recently highlighted by the last-minute withdrawals of Godfrey Walusimbi and Dan Wagaluka from the Cranes CHAN team.
Williamson knows he will miss the pair but he has handled the incident with incredible poise, like he always does under similar circumstances. Rather than complain, Williamson simply stressed that no player is bigger than the team and that others will simply be promoted to cover the gap.
FUFA president Lawrence Mulindwa has made several mistakes but Williamson is not one of them. The CHAN will hopeful confirm this.