Cranes mentally prepared for CHAN - Micho

By Swalley Kenyi

UGANDA Cranes coach Micho Sredojevic and his CHAN team captain Denis Iguma could not say a thing but pledge to exhibit their best at the championships in South Africa after listening to motivational speaker Peter Kimbowa on Tuesday night.

In a passionate motivational speech quoting various achievers around the world, Kimbowa urged the players to reflect on the team’s performance in the past, to bridge gaps in the current squad and confront the future.

“We are warriors. We may have had setbacks before but they were not crumbles. A setback is a setup for a comeback. Remember a season of mourning is not a lifetime misery. We need the right mentality, cohesion and team spirit to win even at the last minute,” Kimbowa told a gathering of players and officials at Serena Hotel.

Kimbowa was speaking at a dinner organised by the Cranes sponsor Airtel Uganda at Serena Hotel to see off the team which departs on Thursday.

Iguma effectively replied, “We are ready to go to South Africa and give our best. We shall make it. We shall not let you (Ugandans) down.”

Micho, who had earlier on conceded that Morocco was the biggest challenge in the Group B that also has Burkina Faso and Zimbabwe said, “We are counted as underdogs but we will be out to show what we can do.”

“No soldier doesn’t train to be a general. We are mentally prepared, physically fit and technically mature for the challenge in South Africa. I cannot discuss our approach with the public but to these players when the time comes,” Micho concluded.

Kimbowa challenged the players to individually draw a picture of a goat on a piece of paper and construed what position, direction and missing parts of the picture could mean in regard to the respective player’s focus to CHAN.

Airtel Uganda managing director V.G Somasekhar announced a sh2m per goal reward at the CHAN finals for the Cranes to develop football infrastructure of their choice anywhere in the country.

“We want to see football winning not only at Cranes level but also across the country,” Somasekhar told FUFA President Moses Magogo, who was also flanked at the function by members of his executive.