Can the Cranes soar over Senegal?
Aug 01, 2011
A cold chill shot down my spine when I got news on Saturday that Uganda had been grouped with Senegal in the Brazil 2014 football World Cup qualifiers.
By James Bakama
I SAY SO
A cold chill shot down my spine when I got news on Saturday that Uganda had been grouped with Senegal in the Brazil 2014 football World Cup qualifiers.
Senegal is the last African team any side would want to face. Though placed behind the likes of Ivory Coast, Egypt, Ghana and Nigeria in the FIFA rankings, the Lions of Teranga are in reality Africa’s strongest team at the moment.
To get a feel of Senegal’s might, you only have to look at their attack.
Strikers Papis Cisse (Freiburg) and Moussa Sow (Lille) top scored in the Bundesliga and Ligue 1respectively. Their colleagues Demba Ba(Newcastle) and Mame Diouf (Manchester United) have also sparkled in England.
Among Senegal’s recent victims are giants Cameroon. The Lions of Teranga mauled the Indomitable Lions in Dakar before forcing a draw in the away encounter in Yaounde.
I first got a feel of Senegal in 2001 during the 2002 World Cup qualifiers. I particularly remember Khalilou Fadiga running rings around our best defender Ibrahim Sekagya in the Nakivubo match that ended in a draw.
Infuriated Ugandan fans called for Sekagya’s substitution. To them, Sekagya, who was at the time undergoing professional trials, was a tourist who was taking the country for a ride.
Ugandans were only awakened to the realities of the kind of talent Sekagya had been up against when Senegal with the likes ElHadji Diouf, Papa Bouba Diop, Fadiga and Henri Camara reached the World Cup quarter-finals.
This squad has since faded. It has been replaced by a largely young French academy bred side that is equally set to take Senegal to great heights.
But whatever Senegal’s strengths, we shouldn’t be intimidated. The secret in beating Senegal, Angola and Liberia or Mauritius to Group J’s sole slot lies in preparation.
For starters, we should realise that the bulk of the current Cranes side is ageing thus the need to begin strengthening our U-23 side for senior team replacements.
The All Africa Games next month, where Uganda share a group with Cameroon, Senegal and Ghana, therefore provides a golden opportunity to begin the Brazil 2014 build-up.
Quality Kobs’ friendlies, if possible with teams even better than Senegal, should after the Maputo games further strengthen our preparations.
True, World Cup qualification sounds more like a mere dream for a country like Uganda. But this fantasy can still crystalize into reality if we put to good use the remaining eleven months.
I SAY SO
A cold chill shot down my spine when I got news on Saturday that Uganda had been grouped with Senegal in the Brazil 2014 football World Cup qualifiers.
Senegal is the last African team any side would want to face. Though placed behind the likes of Ivory Coast, Egypt, Ghana and Nigeria in the FIFA rankings, the Lions of Teranga are in reality Africa’s strongest team at the moment.
To get a feel of Senegal’s might, you only have to look at their attack.
Strikers Papis Cisse (Freiburg) and Moussa Sow (Lille) top scored in the Bundesliga and Ligue 1respectively. Their colleagues Demba Ba(Newcastle) and Mame Diouf (Manchester United) have also sparkled in England.
Among Senegal’s recent victims are giants Cameroon. The Lions of Teranga mauled the Indomitable Lions in Dakar before forcing a draw in the away encounter in Yaounde.
I first got a feel of Senegal in 2001 during the 2002 World Cup qualifiers. I particularly remember Khalilou Fadiga running rings around our best defender Ibrahim Sekagya in the Nakivubo match that ended in a draw.
Infuriated Ugandan fans called for Sekagya’s substitution. To them, Sekagya, who was at the time undergoing professional trials, was a tourist who was taking the country for a ride.
Ugandans were only awakened to the realities of the kind of talent Sekagya had been up against when Senegal with the likes ElHadji Diouf, Papa Bouba Diop, Fadiga and Henri Camara reached the World Cup quarter-finals.
This squad has since faded. It has been replaced by a largely young French academy bred side that is equally set to take Senegal to great heights.
But whatever Senegal’s strengths, we shouldn’t be intimidated. The secret in beating Senegal, Angola and Liberia or Mauritius to Group J’s sole slot lies in preparation.
For starters, we should realise that the bulk of the current Cranes side is ageing thus the need to begin strengthening our U-23 side for senior team replacements.
The All Africa Games next month, where Uganda share a group with Cameroon, Senegal and Ghana, therefore provides a golden opportunity to begin the Brazil 2014 build-up.
Quality Kobs’ friendlies, if possible with teams even better than Senegal, should after the Maputo games further strengthen our preparations.
True, World Cup qualification sounds more like a mere dream for a country like Uganda. But this fantasy can still crystalize into reality if we put to good use the remaining eleven months.