Uganda misses out on Ghana 2008
Oct 13, 2007
THE post-mortem will be long and hard. But at the end of it all, one simple fact shall remain irrefutable! Uganda’s 30-year wait for continental football will stretch on for another two years after Benin and Mali extinguished Cranes’ hopes for Ghana ‘08 with identical 2-0 wins away.
By Joseph Opio
NATIONS CUP QUALIFIERS
Group 9
Sierra Leone 0 Benin 2
Togo 0 Mali 2
Uganda misses out on Ghana 2008
THE post-mortem will be long and hard. But at the end of it all, one simple fact shall remain irrefutable! Uganda’s 30-year wait for continental football will stretch on for another two years after Benin and Mali extinguished Cranes’ hopes for Ghana ‘08 with identical 2-0 wins away.
An optimistic nation had started the day clinging onto the third runners-up; and praying that Benin either fails to win in Freetown or Mali and Togo draw. That particular prayer was to prove futile. Benin — Uganda’s direct rivals for the final runners-up slot — visited Sierra Leone dripping with intent.
And the Squirrels were no doubt buoyed by the fact that their hosts could only muster just 5,000 fans in a stadium built to accommodate more than 30,000.
Striker Oumar Tchomogo was Benin’s hero with a brace that broke Ugandan hearts and won the West Africans a dream air-ticket to next year’s Nations Cup finals.
The win was Benin’s first triumph on the road and represented the critical difference between them and Uganda — which won all its home qualifiers but failed to register a single victory away.
With Tchomogo and Benin running riot in Freetown, Cranes’ chances of sneaking into Ghana had shifted to a stalemate in the other West African showdown between Togo and Mali.
And for a while, a draw seemed likely till Mali’s Frederic Kanoute broke Togolese resistance with an opportunistic strike — at the stroke of half-time.
Mali defended that priceless one-goal lead valiantly before twisting the knife in the collective heart of two nations with a late second — Mamadou Diallo scoring in deep into second-half injury time to seal Togo and Uganda’s combined fate.
Mali’s success ensured their automatic qualification to the continental finals as Group Nine winners while second-placed Benin usurped the Cranes to progress as third best-placed runners-up.
Uganda, like Benin, accumulated a creditable 11 points but was ultimately muscled out of the runners-up rat-race due to an inferior goal-difference.
FUFA president Lawrence Mulindwa put a brave face on Uganda’s cruel setback, urging a grieving nation to concentrate on the positives inherent in Cranes’ ill-fated campaign.
“It was a very difficult period but we should look at the future. I think we did all that was possible and there is a future for Uganda. We will learn from the mistakes to even come back stronger,†remarked the FUFA supremo.
Mulindwa reflected on Uganda’s lengthy exclusion from the Nations Cup but still remained upbeat.
“The wait is too long to believe. But we will work towards being there next time.â€
NATIONS CUP QUALIFIERS
Group 9
Sierra Leone 0 Benin 2
Togo 0 Mali 2
Uganda misses out on Ghana 2008
THE post-mortem will be long and hard. But at the end of it all, one simple fact shall remain irrefutable! Uganda’s 30-year wait for continental football will stretch on for another two years after Benin and Mali extinguished Cranes’ hopes for Ghana ‘08 with identical 2-0 wins away.
An optimistic nation had started the day clinging onto the third runners-up; and praying that Benin either fails to win in Freetown or Mali and Togo draw. That particular prayer was to prove futile. Benin — Uganda’s direct rivals for the final runners-up slot — visited Sierra Leone dripping with intent.
And the Squirrels were no doubt buoyed by the fact that their hosts could only muster just 5,000 fans in a stadium built to accommodate more than 30,000.
Striker Oumar Tchomogo was Benin’s hero with a brace that broke Ugandan hearts and won the West Africans a dream air-ticket to next year’s Nations Cup finals.
The win was Benin’s first triumph on the road and represented the critical difference between them and Uganda — which won all its home qualifiers but failed to register a single victory away.
With Tchomogo and Benin running riot in Freetown, Cranes’ chances of sneaking into Ghana had shifted to a stalemate in the other West African showdown between Togo and Mali.
And for a while, a draw seemed likely till Mali’s Frederic Kanoute broke Togolese resistance with an opportunistic strike — at the stroke of half-time.
Mali defended that priceless one-goal lead valiantly before twisting the knife in the collective heart of two nations with a late second — Mamadou Diallo scoring in deep into second-half injury time to seal Togo and Uganda’s combined fate.
Mali’s success ensured their automatic qualification to the continental finals as Group Nine winners while second-placed Benin usurped the Cranes to progress as third best-placed runners-up.
Uganda, like Benin, accumulated a creditable 11 points but was ultimately muscled out of the runners-up rat-race due to an inferior goal-difference.
FUFA president Lawrence Mulindwa put a brave face on Uganda’s cruel setback, urging a grieving nation to concentrate on the positives inherent in Cranes’ ill-fated campaign.
“It was a very difficult period but we should look at the future. I think we did all that was possible and there is a future for Uganda. We will learn from the mistakes to even come back stronger,†remarked the FUFA supremo.
Mulindwa reflected on Uganda’s lengthy exclusion from the Nations Cup but still remained upbeat.
“The wait is too long to believe. But we will work towards being there next time.â€