KCC falls -- Uganda’s hopes now lie in Villa

Mar 24, 2002

A blunt striking line ensured KCC become the second Ugandan club to bow out of continental soccer in a space of two days.

By Daniel SaireKCC 0 St George 0SundaySC Villa v El-MerreikhA blunt striking line ensured KCC become the second Ugandan club to bow out of continental soccer in a space of two days.Egyptian side Al-Mehalla ejected Express from the Africa Cup Winners Cup on Friday in Mehalla City with a 7-4 aggregate.The CAF Cup match at Nakivubo stadium yesterday had KCC squander several scoring chances against St George much to the chagrin of their supporters.The only good news for KCC was the three points and two goals awarded to them by the League Committee for their aborted league match against Heroes. (See related story on page 34).KCC which lost the first leg match 1-0 to St George, two weeks ago in Addis Ababa, needed at least two unanswered strikes to qualify for the second round. Coach David Otti went through a barrage of abuses from KCC fans who accused him of ineffective tactics.“We missed four clear chances in the first and five in the second half. What could I have done in such a situation?” Wondered a dejected Otti.His Ethiopian counterpart Seyoum Kebede led St George players into singing and dancing after Rwandan referee Issa Kagabo’s final whistle. Badru Kiyega was the was the biggest culprit as KCC missed chance after chance. The sluggish player instead aided the Ethiopians at a time when KCC needed a goal, kicking off the line a goal bound ball that had deflected off an Ethiopian defender in the 22nd minute.Moments later, KCC survived an Ethiopian counter-attack when goalie Joseph Nsubuga punched back into play a hard ground shot by Bekele Tewdros. Shaka Okello and Lawrence Kizito collided but were lucky that Belay Fekadu’s rebounder went wide.KCC improved their game in the second half after Otti introduced Davis Odowa and Nathan Mutenza for Kiyega and Nordin Juuko but KCC failed to break down the resilient Ethiopians.At Namboole today, Villa, the only surviving Uganda team cannot afford to lose focus despite the abrupt change of their fixture from Friday. A good team should be prepared all the time, according to Villa coach Micho Sredojevich.This was the message the Yugoslav coach was drumming into his players ahead of today’s belated clash against El-Merreikh.The match had earlier been scheduled for Friday but the visitors refused to play because they were not informed in good time.On Friday, Micho had to cut short his lamentations over switch of the match and lay strategies to eject the Sudanese.“I am trying to psyche up the players by telling them that they can win a match on Sunday, like they could have done on a Friday,” he said.And be sure they will be prepared for the game: Villa hired Afrigo band to spice up the occasion.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});