Ismail Dhakaba Kigongo
4 June 2011
So many things have become obvious about each and every Uganda Cranes’ Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifying campaign. The persistent outcry for funding is a near-given just like winning home games. Ismail Dhakaba Kigongo walks you through this stretch that has brought only one wound in almost half a decade.
Right now
Another attempt at breaking a three-decade hoodoo started with trouncing Angola 3-0 thanks to goals from David Obua, Andy Mwesigwa and Geoffrey Sserunkuma.
Guinea Bissau will walk into Namboole Stadium today with many fans expecting no less than the performance that floored Angola even if every game is different.
Falling short of Angola
One team that was quickly becoming a three-point lane for Cranes is the Palancas Negras of Angola. When they came here in the run-up to event they hosted last year, Eugene Sseppuuya, Ibrahim Sekagya and Dan Wagaluka were on the mark in a commanding 3-1 triumph.
In the other game, a Sekagya header was the lone goal in the narrow 1-0 victory over Niger and Massa scored a brace to defeat visiting Benin 2-1 but Cranes still fell short of qualifying.
Nigeria horror
Even when Nigeria took the lead through John Utaka in qualification for the 2008 tournament in Ghana, the roaring fans never lost faith. Some Massa magic in the forbidden area brought two penalties for Uganda to complete a come-from-behind 2-1 result with Obua and Sekagya perfecting from 12 yards.
The same campaign had started with 3-0 walloping of Lesotho. Massa scored twice here and Obua got the other before the latter wrote his name on the last fixture in this group. Obua got a hat trick to dump Niger 3-1 but goal difference again blurred the qualification picture.
McCarthy pain
Qualification for the 2006 AFCON finals in Egypt is the last time Uganda Cranes struggled at home. A Benni McCarthy controversial penalty gave South Africa a painful 1-0 victory at Namboole – the last time Uganda lost in their backyard.
That was only an irrelevant addition to drawing 1-all with Ghana as a late Asamoah Gyan goal cancelled Assan Bajope’s opener.
The euphoria had almost died when Uganda drew 2-all with Burkina Faso and beat Cape Verde 1-0 in results which never mattered save for protecting the proud home record.
Villain Tabula
Philip Obwiny set the tone in a 1-0 result against Ghana much to the delight of the Cranes’ faithful after Guinea had pulled out of the group, leaving it with only three teams.
A commendable goalless draw in Kigali gave locals immense belief for Rwanda’s visit. It was such an anti-climax ending up in Abubaker Tabula removing suspected lucky charms of ‘witchcraft’ from the visitors’ net.
Pandemonium ensued with running battles between the two sets of players and officials before Jimmy Gatete’s sucker punch gave Rwanda a 1-0 win. The victory sent the Rwandans to the Nations Cup for the very first time at the expense of a beleaguered Uganda.
West African dominance
By the time Uganda Cranes set their sights on qualifying for Mali 2002, World Cup-bound Senegal were at the peak of their powers.
And drawing 1-1 with the Teranga Lions was as well appreciated as Matthias Kaweesa breaching the visiting defence once. It’s the 3-0 loss to Togo at Nakivubo that ranks highly as Uganda’s worst home game in eons.
Even if Andrew Mukasa (2) and Hassan Mubiru scored in the 3-1 victory over Guinea, having three West African teams in Uganda’s group was a huge mountain to climb.
Mubiru arrives
Previously unknown to many, Mubiru announced his arrival with a brilliant couple against Algeria’s Desert Fennecs in a 2-1 win at a packed Nakivubo.
The journey to the 2000 event in Ghana/Nigeria was firmly on course until Tunisia beat Uganda 2-0 here. The same campaign brought lots of fuss about George Weah’s Liberia.
After beating the huge traffic, he was just in time to see Philip Ssozi score in a 1-0 win to bury failure to make it past the preliminary round two years prior.
Ethiopian bread
Joseph Mutyaba (2), Fred Tamale and Andrew Arinaitwe scored in a 4-1 triumph over Ethiopia which firmly put Cranes in charge of a group that had Egypt, Tanzania and Sudan all on the path to South Africa in 1996.
However, a George Ssimwogerere penalty was insufficient when drawing 1-all with Algeria. There were no goals scored by either side when Egypt visited. Some rich of vein of form saw Mutyaba receive support from Friday Ssenjonyo to beat Tanzania 2-0 before Jackson Mayanja joined in the act to defeat Sudan by the same margin.
Magical Musisi
The late Majid Musisi (RIP) is one of few players that appear in the same sentence with 1978 Nations Cup hero Philip Omondi and it’s for good reason. In some of his best years, he took Cranes within a breath of breaking the duck.
His goal, along with Robert Aloro brought a 3-1 win over Ethiopia. They weren’t alone in maintaining the fortress as Jackson Mayanja hit the back of the net to down Sudan 1-0.
Had it not been for the Adam Ssemugabi injury time penalty miss in a goalless stalemate with Nigeria, there would be none counting all these years without major continental football. More from Musisi
Beating Zaire 2-1 came through goals from Musisi and Steven Bogere as going to Senegal 1992 became almost a given.
Tanzania brought a tough examination but Musisi scored twice and Umar Ssenoga got the other in a 3-2 win. There was still time for a dreadful result – a goalless draw with Gabon, is mainly remembered for one part of the Nakivubo stand caving in. All this happened while getting results away from home remained a Archilles heel, which the 1-0 win in Guinea Bissau should heal.
AllAfrica – All the Time
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Cranes Formidable At Home