(PHOTO/Courtesy)
Uganda Cranes Regional Tour
Eastern Region vs Uganda Cranes
Mbale Municipal Stadium
Saturday, 25-09-2021 @4pm
The Uganda Cranes will hope to kick-start their preparations for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers with victory against Eastern Region Select at the Mbale Municipal Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Uganda who take on Rwanda in the FIFA 2022 World Cup qualifiers next month, will use the game as part of preparations and Micho will hope he can pick a few players from the team so as to add onto the side that drew against Kenya and Mali, last month.
The tour game is always aimed at taking the Cranes closer to their fans and that will once again be key on Saturday.
However for Micho, he will also be searching for a second notable victory since returning as Cranes head coach.
The Serb beat Ethiopian side Fesil Kenema 1-0 in a build-up game last month and that is the only victory he has enjoyed since making the return.
For the players, it is chance to convince the technical team that they stand a chance in the senior side and whoever steps onto the pitch in Mbale will most likely give their absolute best.
The Cranes preparations for the game suffered some set backs as several players from four Uganda Premier League clubs could not be summoned to the team.
Players from BUL FC, Express FC, Police FC and Express FC who were involved in the Stanbic Uganda Cup semi-finals were not summoned.
URA FC duo of Cromwel Rwothomio and Steven Mukwala were also forced to pull out due to personal reasons and injury, respectively.
Gavin Kizito, Vianne Ssekajugo and Kenneth Ssemakula were dropped from the team, on Friday, due to lack of proper fitness.
As a consequence, Micho was forced to summon three other players in Rogers Mato, Sadat Anaku and Ashraf Mugume, all from KCCA FC.
For the Eastern Select, the have a fully fit sqaud to try and upset the odds against the national side.
Coach Godfrey Awachango summoned 22 players on Thursday and he will hope they can get the job done.
