Friday, November 7, 2014

Ethiopia will give Cranes needed test

Cranes coach Micho Sredojevic seemed to have had his wish of playing at least two friendly games ahead of facing Ghana granted last week.
Friendlies against Ethiopia on Sunday and Sudan two days later had been lined up by Fufa but the latter was well ahead called off, leaving only this weekend’s fixture against the Walya Antelopes.
"Fifa informed us we cannot have more than two fixtures in an international period stretching from next week until our game against Guinea on November 19," Fufa publicist Ahmed Hussein told supersport.com.
The friendly against Ethiopia on Sunday is a day before the Fifa international week starts, and one against Sudan on Tuesday would have made it three games in the said period, which already has matches against Ghana and Guinea.
Uganda must beat Ghana on November 15 at Namboole to maintain their slim hopes of qualifying for next year’s Nations Cup, and Micho will now be forced to face the Black Stars having played just one friendly.

But the Serbian coach is confident the Walya Antelopes will provide the needed test ahead of the must-win skirmish against the four-time African champions.
“Preparedness is never enough but we shall in limited time with Ethiopia friendly and training try to be as ready as possible,” he said.
Micho added: “And the match against Ghana next Saturday will answer if it (preparedness) was enough.”.
Gyan doubtful
Meanwhile, Ghana are still sweating over the fitness of their star striker and captain Asamoah Gyan. Gyan sustained an injury recently while playing for his club Al Ain.
Footy-ghana.com reports that Serbian horse placenta expert Mariana Kovacevic flew to the Emirates to treat Gyan, whom she had worked on before during the 2012 African Nations Cup tournament.
It is understood that the treatment went well but stand-in coach Maxwell Konadu is wary of aggravating Gyan’s injury by bringing him back so soon.
Should Gyan miss out, it will be the first time he will be absent from playing in qualifiers since being appointed as team captain in 2013.
Ghana top standings with eight points, followed by Togo on six. Uganda and Guinea have four apiece with two games left to play. The top two in Group E will qualify for the finals in Morocco in January.
Cranes engagements
Friendly: Sunday, November 9
Uganda Vs Ethiopia – At Namboole Stadium
Upcoming Afcon qualifying fixtures
November 15: Uganda vs Ghana
November 19: Guinea vs Uganda
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