Micho warns against complacency

By Fred Kaweesi

Saturday, 4pm

Uganda v Angola

IN the aftermath of Cranes’ slender 1-0 win over Liberia on Saturday, a fan called a friend who had missed the World Cup qualifying fixture at Namboole Stadium.

The one statement that stood out from the loud conversation was that: “Eh, it has been bloody. It was bloody, I tell you but we won!”

If this particular fan, just as the over 30,000 that thronged the stadium, felt the fixture was bloody; they need to rethink their observation as Saturday’s battle against Angola will be bloodier!

And it’s not that Cranes are inferior to the Black Antelopes. Not at all!

In fact, Uganda should be favourites not just because of the fact that they moved to second place in Group J -courtesy of Tony Mawejje’s fourth-minute goal against Liberia -but considering their previous statistics against Angola.

But Cranes’ hurdles are in two principal areas. They will need to find answers to a couple of weaknesses that Liberia exploited.

The team must also avoid complacency that might creep into some of the players that could read much from the team’s dominant run over the Southern Africans.

“I don’t want the team to read anything from their previous wins against Angola. It’s a different challenge against a very good team, with different players,” Micho hinted referring to Uganda’s overwhelming 3-0 and 3-1 home wins over the Black Antelopes in 2008 and 2010 respectively.

That’s not to forget that Cranes recently even managed a priceless point in Luanda, where they drew 1-1 courtesy of an Emmanuel Okwi late equaliser.

Micho is well aware that although his side earned the right to look pleased with themselves, the wheels will come off on Saturday if they read too much from the result. He knows there will be no room for egos, complacency or radical changes.

“Of course we need to improve our defending and that is where we will continue adjusting. I will also spend time trying to improve the tactical discipline of some of the players that didn’t perform well,” he added.

If Micho’s first competitive fixture did expose certain aspects, it was the team’s unproductive play through the middle and lack of concentration at the back that not once but thrice threatened to haul the visitors back into the game. 

Denis Iguma struggled at right-back while Geofrey ‘Baba’ Kizito and Luwagga Kizito, who started ahead of Moses Oloya, failed to blossom in Micho’s preferred 4-3-1- 2 formation.

The Serbian chose to play through the middle, with a four-man central midfield of Hassan Wasswa, ‘Baba’ Kizito, Tony Mawejje and Luwagga.

Although the strategy helped combat Liberia’s midfield dominance, it denied the Cranes of their normal wing play and exposed the two fullbacks, particularly Iguma.

Nicholas Wadada might be a better full-back but he lacks experience.

Micho pointed: “You can’t change four or five players because that would change the composition of the team. We know what we need to correct and we will do that,” Micho stated. 

Angola will miss the services of their lead striker Manucho Goncalves but in Afonso Guilherme, they will still possess a lethal finisher.

The Antelopes get men behind the ball and play a physical game, making it hard for the opposition