Cecafa: Uganda suffers defeat to Kenya

Nov 22, 2015

Uganda’s pursuit of a 14th Cecafa title starts off on a losing note against defending champions Kenya.


2015 Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup


Kenya 2
(Keli 29’, Olunga 50’)   Uganda 0 



By Joseph Kizza
true @joekizza


Uganda’s pursuit of a 14th Cecafa title started off on a losing note against defending champions Kenya at Addis Ababa Stadium in Ethiopia on Sunday.

The Harambee Stars, dominant for long periods of the opening half, took the lead through striker Jacob Keli in the 29th minute.

The diminutive attacker, who plays for Zambian side Nkana FC, was fed in by Johanna Eric Omollo and reacted quickest to connect home.

Five minutes after restart, Gor Mahia striker Michael Olunga, on as a substitute in place of Keli, struck with his second touch of the game to double the Harambee Stars’ lead.

Both sides had clear-cut opportunities to build on the scoreline in the second half, but The Cranes skipper Miya Farouk fluffed a chance late on as did Kenya's substitute Allan Wanga.

Uganda, the most successful nation in the Cup, is in Group B with holders Kenya, Burundi and Zanzibar, and sits at the bottom of the group so far. Kenya tops after Sunday's winning start while Burundi is in second and Zanzibar in third.

The two East African sides had last met three years ago in Kampala – an encounter that led to Uganda’s record 13th Cecafa title, courtesy of a 2-1 victory.

This time round, despite the two nations coming into Sunday’s game on the back of contrasting recent World Cup qualifiers fortunes, it was a highly billed match – from a regional point of view. No doubt.  What would you expect from a clash between the record title holders and  the defending champions?

It was therefore no surprise that Coach Milutin Sredojevic (Micho) called on rising star Farouk Miya to shepherd a young squad against Kenyan opposition, but as he would go on to realize, his inexperienced players were on the receiving end of an eye-opening first defeat of this campaign.

It was a much-changed side from the one that eliminated Togo from World Cup contention last week, but still such a backdrop should have unsettled the Kenyans who were dumped out of the same competition days later.

But once the game got under way, any Kenyan fan would have been pleased with how their countrymen dominated play against their more illustrious neighbours.

Coach Bobby Williamson – ex-The Cranes manager – watched from the sidelines as his boys easily bossed possession in the opening minutes of the game. Much of the first-half play unfolded in the midfield, a region that the Kenyans were keen to create a fort of.

It took the Ugandans as many as 15 minutes to begin to show signs of settling into the game, and could have easily gone in front had Caesar Okhuti connected a glancing in-swinger from  the right flank.

Kenyan keeper Boniface Oluoch was again tested moments later but he didn’t have to do anything as skipper Miya’s hard effort from an Erisa Ssekisambu cross slammed hard against the crossbar and ricocheted back into play.

The missed opportunity proved costly as two minutes later, fast-paced Keli fired the Harambee Stars ahead with a cute finish past on-coming goalie James Alitho.

Keli, an ubiquitous figure in attack, troubled The Cranes’ wall and had he not been guilty of wasteful chances, he should have doubled – or even tripled – the score in the first half.

He failed to capitalize on two late opportunities before half-time right in the mouth of goal – once when Ugandan defender Murshid Juuko, who played against Togo last Sunday, failed to clear in the box.

But such profligacy appeared existent on the other side of the pitch as well, as Miya – who has been such a lethal attacking force this year – and Okhuti squandered a number of opportunities.

Surely, the final score undermines the number of goal-scoring chances that should have been converted in an end-to-end game played under sweltering temperatures.

So intense was the game that Okhuti would have been relieved to survive being sent-off after a nasty mid-air clash with goalie Oluoch from a Miya cross. The Kenyan custodian had also earlier in the opening half picked up a self-inflicted injury as he rose highest to collect the ball from a corner kick, forcing the game into a brief pause as he received swift medical attention.

Micho made a couple of reforms, particularly by bringing on Ivan Ntege, to solidify his weakened midfield, as well as inspire more fluidity in the play. Frank Kalanda also replaced a burned-out Ssekisambu.

His opposite made some changes too, sending on Christian Bwamy for Clifton Miheso and late on, Allan Wanga substituted Jesse Were.

Yes, changes were made, but what remained unchanged was the scoreline, which to the Kenyans, wasn’t bad news at all. But for The Cranes, it was an early eye-opener that Coach Micho and his players will have to study more meticulously if, going forward, they are to muster a meaningful challenge to this year’s title.

Uganda will next play Zanzibar on Tuesday as Kenya meets Burundi – who also have collected three points after a 1-0 win over Zanzibar.



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