It is exactly nineteen days before The
Cranes take on Ghana in a must-win 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier
at Namboole stadium.
Four days later, Uganda will lock horns
with Guinea in the decisive fixture to be played on neutral ground in
Morocco. And bearing in mind the magnitude of these encounters, The
Cranes technical team are leaving no stone unturned in a bid to have the
ideal preparations. That is why The Cranes will be engaged in two
international friendly matches against Ethiopia and Sudan on November 9
and 11 respectively.
To many observers, these friendly games
couldn’t have been scheduled at a better time. In fact, following
Cranes’ below-par display in their last round of qualifying games
against Togo, that saw them lose 1-0 both home and away, fixtures
against Ethiopia and Sudan are seen as an opportunity for Cranes coach
Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic to work out some new tactical approaches.
Firstly, Micho is expected to work out a
strategy that will ensure that The Cranes can score goals. The lack of a
clinical element amongst Cranes strikers against Togo especially in the
second leg was one of the team’s major undoing. Micho pointed out in
his post-match comments in Togo that his forwards had to show more
composure in front of goal in order to execute. He emphasized that in
top-level football, opponents’ defences will rarely give you a look-in
on their goal.
“So, unless you are fast and efficient
to finish off the few chances you get, you will always end up at a
loss,” Micho said then.
According to Micho, these ties will
enable him review his players’ technical state before the big games.
“Training alone isn’t enough because I never get to see the
foreign-based players a lot in action, and let alone get thorough
reviews from their club coaches to know what physical condition they are
in,” Micho explained.
Notably, Micho and his back-room staff
have been under a lot of pressure on their selection of strikers in past
games. The general consensus has been calling for Sserunkuma and Yunus
Sentamu to start games because of their recent club form.
Interestingly, friendly games against
Seychelles, Malawi and Niger preceded Uganda’s positive results against
Mauritania and Ghana. November 9, 4pm
Uganda v Ethiopia, Namboole
November 11pm
Uganda v Sudan, Namboole
http://www.observer.ug
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