Beach soccer: Injury rules Uganda's Roch out of return leg

2018 AFRICA BEACH SOCCER CUP OF NATIONS QUALIFIERS

Return leg

Ivory Coast v Uganda (on Friday)

(Ivory Coast leads 3-1)

Uganda's national beach soccer team, the Sand Cranes, will miss the services of captain Somoka Roch due to injury.

Roch did not travel with the team Wednesday morning to Ivory Coast for the return leg of the 2018 Africa Beach Soccer Cup of Nations qualifiers.

The tie is due on Friday in the capital Abidjan. 

Roch's exclusion from the team will be seen as a big blow to the team that is carrying a two-goal deficit into the return leg.

The winner here over the two legs will progress to the finals that will take place from December 9 until 14 in Cairo, Egypt.

A 17-man contingent headed by FUFA executive committee member Rogers Byamukama had on board ten players.

The 2018 Africa Beach Soccer Cup of Nations will be the second edition of the Africa Beach Soccer Cup of Nations since the current name was adopted in 2016.

Previously beach soccer tournaments organised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) were known as the CAF Beach Soccer Championship.

Senegal are the defending champions.

The tournament will act as a qualification tournament for African teams to the 2019 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.

Uganda last took part in the qualifiers in 2015, when Sand Cranes were eliminated by the Black Sharks of Ghana.

The players who travelled:

Lwesibawa Godfrey, Kasujja Davis, Kibirige Meddie, Lule Paul, Lwamunda Nasser, Muganga Douglas, Ocen Ben, Ochero Sulaiman, Wasswa Emmnauel Alex and Katwe Allan.