LIVE: Uganda 1 Ghana 0

trueToday’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifier
Uganda v Ghana (Kickoff at 4pm at Namboole Stadium)

Uganda’s 2015 Nations Cup qualifying campaign is in a coma. To resuscitate it, Cranes must stun Ghana’s Black Stars today before completing a double over Guinea on Wednesday.

To those that read so much into statistics, that’s feasible, first and foremost considering that over the years, Uganda- Ghana fixtures have been closely contested affairs.

In fact, in the nine meetings the two sides have faced off since their meeting in the 1978 Nations Cup final when Ghana edged Uganda 2-0, the Black Stars have only registered four two-goal wins over Cranes.

In the other four, Uganda has beaten Ghana once and pulled off three draws -a pattern that ideally points to another cracking fixture at Namboole Stadium.

Those that are superstitious will draw encouragement from the fact that the gods seem to be smiling their way, looking at the injury curse that has deprived Ghana of their three most influential stars in Asamoah Gyan, Kwadwo Asamoah and Jordan Ayew.

But the Black Stars are such a top football side that all the above will pale into insignificance when the two sides walk out for the penultimate Group E fixture.

Ghana come into this fixture with a squad loaded with plenty of experience gathered over the years from both Nations and World Cup tournaments.

Ghana are solid In qualifying for the 2014 World Cup, Ghana topped their group, which included 2012 African Cup of Nations champions Zambia, with five wins from six games.

They eventually booked their flight to Brazil by dismantling much-fancied Egypt 7-3 on aggregate. If Egypt’s performance against Ghana in Kumasi last year proved one thing, it was that any side that encounters the current Black Stars team needs to motor in top gear and not in bits.
 

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The Cranes play Ghana today and follow it up with an away tie against Guinea on Wednesday

In Kumasi last September, Cranes matched the Black Stars in their 1-1 draw and could have won the fixture.

But Africa’s 2006, 2010 and 2014 World Cup representatives have since improved and are top of the group with eight points, four ahead of Uganda.

It must be said, that although Ghana are good going forward, they do struggle at the back, with a lack of quality in goal and defence.

The defensive pair of Awal Mohammed and Jonathan Mensah has shipped in five goals so far, two more than Cranes and could be in deep trouble if Cranes coaching staff start with the right attacking combination.

Since the start of the 2015 qualifiers, Cranes have gambled with defensively-tailored midfielders in attacking areas, none with the extraordinary skill to dribble their way into the opposition through the central axis like Mike Sserumaga does.

Yunus Ssentamu, Dan Sserunkuma and Robert Ssentongo will all provide attacking options alongside lead striker Geoffrey Massa.

But equally important will be the contributions of the team’s custodian Denis Onyango, and back-four of Isaac Isinde, Brian Majwega, Andrew Mwesigwa and Savio Kabugo.

Although the absence of Gyan, Kwadwo and Jordan is a relief, the Black Stars are still blessed with an abundance of class in Mubarak Wakaso, Emmanuel Agyemang- Badu, Abdul-Majeed Waris, and Christian Atsu. Ayew, Waris and Badu are so dynamic and unpredictable.

All three have the ability to make diagonal runs off the shoulders of defenders; all three have the ability to score. Hopefully that isn’t the case.