Cranes ready to take on Guinea

Nov 18, 2014

Ugandan teams have over the years accused their various hosts of foul play. Aside from complaints over poor accommodation and feeding, there have been accusations of being kept at airport lobbies for long.

By Fred Kaweesi

Nations Cup qualifiers

Tomorrow, 7pm
Guinea v Uganda SS7
Ghana v Togo SS5

Ugandan teams have over the years accused their various hosts of foul play. Aside from complaints over poor accommodation and feeding, there have been accusations of being kept at airport lobbies for long.


But when Cranes set foot in Casablanca on Monday, such underhand tactics were the least of concerns ahead of their make-or-break Nations Cup qualifier against Guinea.

To start with, FUFA CEO Edgar Watson travelled ahead of the team to prepare all the necessary logistics —from ensuring that the team was received well and cleared on time at the airport to booking a decent hotel for the team’s accommodation.

After a 13-hour journey to Casablanca, the team checked in Hotel Casablanca Le Lido Thalasso & Spa before holding a light training session at the Raja Casablanca sports complex.

Any foul tricks Guinea could have been tempted to play were also nullified by the fact that the game will be played on a neutral venue. Now with all the off-pitch concerns resolved, the onus is on Coach Micho Sredejovic to identify the right strategy and best 11 that will plunder the desired result tomorrow.

For the first time in over a decade, Cranes’ destiny will be decided away from home. For example, in the last two Nations Cup qualifying campaigns, Cranes had to take care of their home fixtures against Kenya and Zambia.

They collapsed in both at the height of expectation.

Guinea are too good

If Cranes’ performance against Guinea in the 2-0 win in Kampala proved one thing, it was that Cranes will have to be mentally astute to match the West Africans.

They will need to work as a unit, and prove efficient with every counterattack, like they did in Kampala, as there will be few chances against their well-drilled opponents.

Suffice it to say, that the game in Casablanca will be no game for the fainthearted. There will be no room for egos, complacency or radical changes of tactics.

 A few will argue that the temptation to be cautious will be there, but sometimes you can be too cautious and play straight into the hands of the opposition.

 It’s not clear whether Micho will opt for the traditional 4-4-2 or conservative 4-5-1 formation with Geoffrey Massa as the lone striker.

Whichever system the Serbian deploys, it should highlight the menace created by danger-man Soumah Seydouba, Naby Keiba and Ibrahim Traore. On Saturday, Seydouba reminded Uganda of what to expect after scoring thrice in their 4-1 win over Togo in Lome.

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