Micho speaks out on CHAN draws

By Swalley Kenyi

CHAN 2016 qualifiers draw

Central East Zone

Tanzania v Uganda

Djibouti v Burundi

Ethiopia v Kenya

Sudan got a bye to Round 1

National football coach Micho Sredojevic has said that he will need a completely new squad for the forthcoming Africa Nations Championship qualifiers. Rwanda will host the 2016 CHAN finals.

Uganda has been drawn against neighbours Tanzania for the preliminary round of the qualifiers on the weekend of June 21. Uganda will travel for the first leg in Dar-es-Salam.

Micho insists that unlike Tanzania whose bulk of the players from the previous edition of CHAN are still based at home, he cannot rely on the previous Cranes squad because many of the players have turned professional or are not fit for the campaign.

"We need to prepare a new team. I believe with good preparations, we can counter the experience of the Tanzanians as their local based team is almost the AFCON senior team," Micho said after witnessing the draws in Cairo, Egypt.

"For me it is absolutely achievable to get a result against Tanzania as the new CHAN team will need to get examples from the previous team if they want to turn professional also," Micho added.

It will not be the first time Uganda meets Tanzania in the same qualifiers.

In the previous edition last year, Uganda beat Tanzania 1-0 in Dar es Salam courtesy of now professional defender Denis Iguma before the return leg that saw the Cranes advance to the second round of the qualifiers. 

Micho and FUFA expect to unveil a comprehensive technical plan for CHAN 2016, AFCON 2017 and the 2018 World Cup qualifiers at the federation's weekly press conference on April 15.

Forty-two teams are expected to engage in the qualifiers that will produce the 15 teams to join the hosts for the final tournament scheduled for 16 January to 7 February 2016.

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