CHAN 2020 Qualifiers
Somalia vs Uganda
El Hadj Hassan Gouled Aptidon Stadium, Djibouti
Saturday, 27-07-2019 @4pm
LUGOGO – The Uganda Cranes team preparing for the upcoming CHAN 2020 first-round qualifiers continued with their preparations on Wednesday morning.
This is their fourth day of training under the non-residential set-up, having started on Sunday, July 14th.
A total of 23 players turned up for the morning session at Lugogo with 22 of them taking part in the day’s training.
URA FC captain Shafik Kagimu who is nursing an ankle injury sustained the previous day (Tuesday), was the one who sat out the morning session.
The session concentrated mainly on ball retention and building attacks from the back, something head coach Abdallah Mubiru thinks, should be worked upon.
“Today (Wednesday), we have focused on trying to build from defence and how best we can get the ball to the forwards because it is an area where we are still lucking, said Mubiru after the session.
“Since we started training, the response has been good as players try to do what is expected of them and in the case of a mistake, they are all eager to rectify it.
The Cranes are slated to take on URA FC on Thursday morning, in their first build-up game since starting training last Sunday and it is a game Mubiru is intending to use so as to gauge the progress of the players.
“We have been here for four days and gone through several training sessions.
“The game against URA will be one to use to see how far we have gone in terms of training as we put our sessions into a game situation.
Since training started on Sunday, there have been seven players absent from camp.
The players in question are all with the KCCA FC team that is taking part in the 2019 CECAFA Kagame Cup, in Kigali-Rwanda.
Asked whether that has been a negative to the team’s plans, the Police FC tactician has this to say;
“We can into camp knowing that those players will not be with us so we cannot use that as an excuse in terms of preparations.
“We are not missing them at the moment and all we have to do is pray they come back healthy and ready to join us.
Wednesday was the last day that the Cranes were under-taking double sessions while in a none-residential setup.
The team will hold a morning session on Thursday, 18th July, before entering residential camp in the evening.
They will then travel for Hoima the following day. While in Hoima, they will play a Regional tour game with Kitara Region on Saturday before returning to Kampala on Sunday.
Upon returning to Kampala, they will step-up preparations for the game against Somalia, on the 26th of July.
Players who trained on Wednesday
Goalkeepers
Alitho James (URA FC), Mugabi Yasin (Wakiso Giants Fc), Keni Saidi ( Sc Villa), Mutakubya Joel ( Kyetume FC)
Defenders
Willa Paul (Police FC), Mustafa Mujuzi (Proline FC), Revita John (Express FC), Awany Timothy (KCCA FC), Mbowa Paul (URA FC), Galiwango Dissan (Express FC), Mandela Ashraf (URA FC).
Midfielders
Taddeo Lwanga (Vipers SC), Masiko Tom (Vipers SC), Kagimu Shafiq (URA FC), Kayiwa Allan (Vipers SC), Okello Allan, Owor David ( SC Villa ), Ssozi Yusuf ( Paidha Black Angels), Kigozi Samson Andrew (Kakiri Town Council FC).
Strikers
Kaddu Patrick (KCCA FC), Sserunkuma Daniel (Vipers SC), Senkatuka Nelson (Bright Stars FC) and Odong Johnson (Police FC).
The technical team of the Uganda Cranes
Head coach – Abdallah Mubiru
Assistant coach – Livingstone Mbabazi
Goalkeeping coach – Sadiq Wassa
Team Coordinator – Geoffrey Massa
