Cranes coach Basena happy with win against Rwanda

Aug 14, 2017

Together with his assistant coach Fred Kajoba, Basena knelt on the turf and prayed in celebration at the end of the game.

Interim head Moses Basena was elated with his first win for the Uganda Cranes against Rwanda's Amavubi Stars at Africa Nations Championships qualifiers at St Mary's Stadium on Saturday.

Together with his assistant coach Fred Kajoba, Basena knelt on the turf and prayed in celebration at the end of the game.

He attributed the triumph to pressure which said the media had exerted on him to launch a winning start or he would not be regarded as a good tactician.

"We should have scored more than three goals but we gave away many scoring chances. We hope to correct the mistakes before the return leg. I thank the media for putting pressure on us," Basena said.

On his decision to withdraw team captain Bernard Muwanga for Tom Masiko at the beginning of the second half, Basena explained that he feared a possible dismissal of the player ahead of the return leg. The player had already been booked.

Rwanda's head coach Antonie Hey attributed their loss to unfair refereeing and poor playing surface at St Mary's.

He particularly insisted that midfielder Muzamiru Mutyaba's penalty that gave Uganda the lead 14 minutes into the game, was never a spot kick. He promised to exploit Uganda Cranes weaknesses in the return leg in Kigali.

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