Africa-Press – Uganda. Two Match Days. The final two rounds of 2021 Afcon qualifiers, whose finals tournament was postponed to next year, resume next month, with Uganda hosting Burkina Faso and ending with a trip to Malawi.
One of the reasons Fufa will gladly shut their ears to outside noise regarding Cranes coach Johnny McKinstry’s future following a dismal show at Chan finals is Afcon.Admittedly, both Fufa and the coach had a target of at least reaching the last eight for the first time in five attempts, and Ugandans expected just that.
But after a goalless draw with Rwanda and a 2-1 defeat to Togo, the Cranes left themselves in a dire situation going into the final group match against defending champions Morocco.Win or burst, it was. And burst they did, collapsing 5-2 to the Moroccans for Ugandan fans to flood social media calling for McKinstry’s ‘head’.
Continue to strive
But Fufa immediately wrapped a reassuring hand around the Northern Irishman, who hardly had football to coach in the pandemic 2020, having signed on the last day of September the year before.“We know everyone is disappointed at this moment,” said McKinstry in the bridge between Chan exit and Afcon qualifiers due next month, via his website.
We set a high bar for ourselves, and when we fail to achieve those targets we all hurt. “But rest assured everyone from the management, to the technical team and players are committed to raising the flag of Uganda high. “We continue to strive for perfection on a daily basis.”And that striving must continue, especially that McKinstry and his men, now with the senior team, have no more time to dwell on the past.
Confident of Afcon berth
The final two rounds of 2021 Afcon qualifiers, whose finals tournament was postponed to next year, resume next month, with Uganda hosting Burkina Faso and ending with a trip to Malawi.“We sit second in the group and given the positive and determined mindset amongst the senior team players at present, I expect Uganda to not only perform at our best but also qualify for Afcon in our March games.”
At seven points from four matches, Uganda are one behind Group B leaders Burkina Faso, who they drew goalless with away, and three ahead of Malawi, 2-0 losers in Kampala.The top two teams qualify for the final Afcon tournament to be held in Cameroon in January next year.Uganda laboured past South Sudan 1-0 at St Mary’s Kitende before falling to the same scoreline and team in Nairobi to miss out on a chance to qualify with two matches to spare.McKinstry used Wyscout analytics to squeeze positives from the Chan performance in Cameroon.
The analytics (showed in utilities) looked at passing, ball possession and loss of it among others, with Uganda faring fairly.But even McKinstry will admit that the statistics that matter most were not Uganda’s, the reason Cranes are talking Afcon when Chan is still going on.
AFCON 2021 QUALIFICATION
March 22-30 Uganda vs. Burkina FasoMalawi vs. Uganda
MCKINSTRY RECORD
Overall matches: 18 Won: 12 (67%) Drawn: 3 (17%) Lost: 3 (17%)Goals scored: 30 Goals conceded: 11 (7 of them at Chan finals).Performances of the senior ‘A’ team onlyMatches: 5Won: 3 (60%)Drawn: 1 (20%) Lost: 1 (20%)
TABLE STANDINGS
Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts B. Faso 4 2 2 0 5 2 +3 8Uganda 4 2 1 1 3 1 +2 7Malawi 4 1 1 2 2 5 −3 4S. Sudan 4 1 0 3 2 4 −2 3*Top two qualify*
