Mujib Kasule, former Cranes player and a football pundit believes FUFA’s decision to let Desabre go was the first error FUFA did, he explains that in Desabre, the Cranes had gotten a coach that was improving players and the entire team was steadily improving.
In the
last two editions of the African Cup of Nations, there were visible signs of
progress for the Uganda National soccer team, the Cranes, having earned a back-to-back
qualification, in Gabon 2017, and also the 2019 event in Egypt.
To qualify
for the 2017 Afcon event, the Cranes were breaking a jinx of 38 years since Uganda's last appearance in the continental championship. The qualification for the 2017
event looked like the beginning of the progress for the Cranes. While qualifying
for the next edition of 2019, Uganda had steadily improved, in fact, the Cranes
topped their qualifiers group with 13 points.
In the final
tournament itself, Uganda progressed up to the last round of sixteen, an improvement
from the 2017 edition where Ugandan was eliminated in the group stages. From
that, one would think, qualifying for AFCON had become a norm for the senior
national soccer team.
Having played
up to the round of sixteen in the 2019 edition, Uganda came back boosted to kick
off qualifiers for the 2021 edition, and indeed it was a perfect start after
sealing seven points from the first three games, Uganda played, two victories against
Malawi and South Sudan respectively, and a draw against Burkina Faso.
However,
things started turning around, with the loss against South Sudan in the return
leg, and eventually, Uganda never realized her dream of qualifying for the
biggest continental soccer event for the third consecutive time. But what went
wrong?
Immediately
after returning home, FUFA announced that they had parted ways with the then
head coach Sebastien Desabre who two days
later joined Egyptian-based club Pyramids FC.
Since Desabre's departure, Uganda’s
performance started to lower. And since then, the Cranes has changed over three
coaches including Jonathan Ministry, Abdallah Mubiru, and lately Milutin Sredojevic "Micho".
Mujib
Kasule, former Cranes player and a football pundit believes FUFA’s decision to
let Desabre go was the first error FUFA did, he explains that in Desabre, the
Cranes had gotten a coach that was improving players and the entire team was
steadily improving.
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the first mistake,”//
Additionally,
he also puts the blame on the technical people in the Federation who failed to
secure a new team that will push the glory forward. “The reason why we are not
at Afcon is that when we qualified in 2017 and 2019 we got
excited and we got complacent because we thought now we have gone back to back
now it’s a norm and we forgot that you don’t go to Afcon by mistake, you need to
prepare, you need to have a strong team and you have to build it”.
In his
argument, Kasule says that the members of the team that qualified for the back-to-back tournaments
had been part of the team for the last decade, therefore they had served in their
own capacities, therefore, it was the responsibility of the Federation to look
for their replacements before their retirement.
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team that …//
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we didn’t have a team,” //
Adding
that, by the time, the Cranes technical team considered looking for possible replacements
for the senior players, it was too late to catch the qualification.
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national team...//
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us now,”//
Additionally,
Kasule believes, the weakness of the local league also badly affected Uganda Cranes’
performance. He said for a national team to make steady progress, the
local league must be prioritized and improved because it is the grass root of
all players that feature for the national team.
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have over …//
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to weaker clubs,”//
What Uganda
loses in its absence at Afcon
As one of the country's most credible football
pundits, Kasule explains that when a team fails to qualify for the biggest
soccer event of the continent, the immediate effect that comes with it is a
downgrade in the CAF and FIFA rankings.
He further
explains that the new rankings will mostly likely place the Cranes in seed
three which is most likely to put Uganda alongside two strong teams that will make
it harder for the Cranes to penetrate through the qualifying group.
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you are .../
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you lose”//
He adds
that when you disappear from this international stage you are off the eyes of
the people, even the players cannot showcase their talents.
"After 2019 Afcon, many
of our players left for professional leagues - almost the entire eleven- and also the money
we lose because when you go to AFCON, there is money you get”. Kasule said.
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course there …//
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international stage”//
What should
be done?
According
to Kasule, the local soccer governing body, FUFA, should admit their failure to prepare a team that can replace the ageing senior players, and concentrate on nurturing
and grooming a new team that will be able to compete in the next ten years.
Additionally,
Kasule believes the Federation should also add extra emphasis on the competitiveness
of the local league.
Fahad Muganga
Freelancer