Belgian targets vacant Cranes job

By James Bakama 

A Belgian tactician Tom Saintfiet is the latest in the growing list people who have shown interest in coaching the Cranes.

The job fell vacant early this week when Scotsman Bobby Williamson was sacked by local soccer governing body FUFA.

Saintfiet, who was for two and a half years, national coach of Namibia, and has had stints as coach of Ethiopia and Yemen, believes he has what it takes to lead the Cranes to glory.

“I have followed the Ugandan game for years. It is one of the most exciting teams in the region and the players have so much potential,” said Saintfiet. 

“When I was coaching Ethiopia, I saw them play CECAFA games, and when I was coach of Yanga SC in Tanzania, I had one of their players Hamis Kiiza in my team. He was really good. Together with him, we played and won the CECAFA Clubs Cup last year”.

The 40 year old tactician laments that Uganda has not been able to make it to major competitions in recent years, saying they have just been “unlucky”.

Highest coaching license

He holds the highest coaching license in football, the UEFA Pro Licence, and has 17 years coaching experience despite his rela-tive young age. 

He was appointed Technical Director in Nigeria last year before political in-fighting put paid to that appointment.

Saintfiet is the second European to show interest in the Cranes job. 

Italian Giusseppe Dossena reportedly also wants the job. Dossenna, 55 has previously managed Ghana and was Cesare Maldini’s assistant coach during Paraguay’s outing at the 2002 World Cup.

He is conversant with African football. He even knows some Ugandan players like Isaac Isinde, whom he coached at St George in Ethiopia.

FUFA vice president (technical) Livingstone Kyambadde said they would critically study the applicants’ CVs before coming up with a choice. 

“What I can assure you is that the replacement will be much better than Bobby,” the official remarked.