Okwi denies feud with Micho

By Swalley Kenyi

CRANES striker Emmanuel Okwi has apologised for his furious reaction to being substituted in the AFCON preliminary qualifier against Madagascar at Namboole on Saturday and brushed off talk of a spat with coach Micho Sredojevic.

Okwi was substituted for Hamis Kiiza in the second half of the match and as he walked to the bench he threw a water bottle to the ground which many fans interpreted as a disagreement with Micho’s decision to substitute him.

“I was disappointed with myself. I don’t remember the last time I had a bad game like this. Everyone was looking at me but I failed to do what they expected. You get really frustrated because of that,” Okwi explained in an exclusive interview.

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Okwi (center) remonstrates with teammates Brian Majwega and Isaac Isinde during the match. Photo by Mpalanyi Ssentongo

“I threw the bottle because I did not know what happened to me. I was frustrated but not because I did not want to be substituted. I am going to work extra hard to understand what went wrong with me,” he added.

At the post match press conference, Micho said that he was satisfied with the result but not the players’ performance. He promised to ensure a change in the Cranes’ next game.

“Yes, I am okay with the result but we wasted so many chances that could have sent another signal altogether. We will have to work to fill where gaps exited,” Micho said. 

Uganda Cranes won 1-0 courtesy of Geoffrey Massa’s first half strike.