Botswana 1 Uganda Cranes 3

Aug 31, 2013

EMMA Okwi’s brace and another goal by Frank Kalanda ensured Uganda Cranes tamed the Botswana 3-1 in Gaborone

By Swalley Kenyi

International friendly

Botswana 1 Uganda 3

World Cup qualifier

Senegal v Uganda (Sept 7)

EMMA Okwi’s brace and another goal by Frank Kalanda ensured Uganda Cranes tamed the Botswana 3-1 in Gaborone on Saturday.

The away win can best be described as a perfect morale booster for the Cranes, who face Senegal in 2014 World Cup qualifier match in Marrakech, Morocco on September 7.

And for the Cranes coach Micho Sredejovic, who has continued to get results since assuming the job in May, the win will help to boost the confidence of his charges.

“Many people do not give us a chance but our chance is football. We have it in front of us. If we go out there we shall get the opportunity because impossible is nothing,” Micho said before the team departed from Kampala.

And the outcome of that advice from Micho to his players has been the humbling of the Zebras of Botswana that the Cranes had not beaten in their last two meetings.

The Cranes must now beat the Lions of Teranga in their make-or-break qualifier to guarantee progress to the final round of qualification which will decide who eventually makes it to the 2014 Brazil World Cup.

Apart from the local-based Cranes’ 1-0 win in the Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) qualifiers against Tanzania last month, the team’s only two other recent away wins were in 2011 (against Guinea Bissau) and 2000 (against Malawi).

They will connect to Istanbul, Turkey where they are expected to camp for three days then head to Morocco on Thursday.

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