Africa-Press – Uganda. At least 180 minutes of gruelling competition is what Cranes coach Micho Sredojevic had hoped for before meeting Kenya on Thursday.
But the Serbian will now have to contend with the test provided by the 2-1 defeat to Ethiopia on Sunday to take on the Kenya Harambee Stars in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers in Nairobi.
Micho, before the Cranes boarded the plane to Addis Ababa last week, told Daily Monitor he had hoped to squeeze in another friendly with Sierra Leone.
The hope was that the quick fix friendly against Sierra Leone could be squeezed between Friday and yesterday. But fell through after Sierra Leone flew out after their goalless draw with Ethiopia, leaving Uganda with only one friendly and training sessions to fine-tune for the Kenyans.
The Cranes flew to Nairobi last evening and will try use today and tomorrow to address the shortcomings clearly exposed by Ethiopia.
Substitute Yunus Sentamu, one of the six players introduced in the second half, scored Uganda’s consolation after Nasir Abubeker and Abel Yelew had given the dominating Ethiopians a 2-0 lead.
“The game against Ethiopia exposed us and it has given us the due challenge on how to improve before the World Cup qualifiers,” admitted Cranes skipper Emmanuel Okwi.
“Kenya and Mali (who Uganda face four days after Kenya) are not exactly like Ethiopia but we shall further check ourselves.”
Milton Karisa is one of the players that lasted all 90 minutes in Bahir Dar Stadium on Sunday. The Vipers attacking midfielder, however, said it was time to stand up and show the fight in the team.
“Fine, we took a long time without playing competitively because of the national lockdown back home, but we need to stand up and fight,” Karisa challenged his mates.
Micho, whose side scored Uganda’s first goal since the 1-0 win over South Sudan in the 2021 Afcon qualifiers close to 10 months, will hope they get their act together in time.
“It was either we win or learn the lessons. We have learned the lessons, we have seen the shortcomings,” he said.
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