FOOTBALL–Former Uganda Cranes captain Andrew Mwesigwa has weighed in on Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic’s exit from the national team and the new technical team.
In a brief interaction with PML Daily the former SC Villa defender has backed Micho to succeed at his new role as head coach of Soweto giants Orlando Pirates in South Africa.
Micho who terminated his contract with the Uganda Cranes a week ago was confirmed as the new head coach of Orlando Pirates on Thursday, replacing Kjel Jonevret, who resigned from the post on Wednesday.
This will be Micho’s second romance with the Buccaneers after a not-so-successful stint back in 2006.
Mwesigwa said he was confident that his former national team manager would have a better spell than his first outing with the same club.
“We lost and Pirates gained because he (Micho) is one of the best coaches on the continent,” Mwesigwa said.
“He was there before (2006) and he is back but this time round with better knowledge about the African game and I back him to bring back the glory that has eluded Orlando Pirates for a while now, especially last season when they finished outside the top four.”
Mwesigwa, who is currently concentrating on his soccer academy based in Jinja, also weighed in on Micho’s replacements in the Cranes dugout.
Fufa has appointed Moses Basena and Fred Kajoba, the two assistants to Micho during his reign with Cranes, as the new national team coaches to specifically oversee preps for Chan qualifiers against Rwanda and World Cup Group E top of the table clash against Egypt.
“They are interim coaches at the moment but since they have been working with Micho and know the setup of the team which has been yielding positive results, I think they will follow the trend and get the results,” Mwesigwa said.
Uganda host Rwanda next weekend at St Mary’s Stadium, Kitende, before a return leg in Kigali a week later. Egypt will visit Kampala on August 31 and host Cranes on September 5.
“They are our own (local coaches) and although in the past the local coaches have faced a problem of football politics, I think its high time it stops so as we let them impose which ever philosophy they come with and considering the new format at Afcon, I am 90 percent certain that they will help us qualify for which ever tournament is put in front of them.”
Basena and Kajoba began their work as interim coaches of the cranes on Wednesday afternoon at Mandela National Stadium, Namboole.
