Cranes coach Paul Put doesn’t need to prepare fresh notes for Monday’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Congo Brazzaville. The 68-year-old Belgian ought to recite his half time speech of Friday’s group K clash with South Africa at the Orlando Stadium in Johannesburg.
Uganda appeared to be going nowhere. The team struggled for rhythm, couldn’t string five passes together, had no cutting edge and seemed content with trying to contain Bafana Bafana. Only the brilliance of Lamontville Golden Arrows keeper Ismail Watenga limited Hugo Broos side from running riot.
The 0-1 halftime scoreline flattered Uganda and wasn’t a fair reflection on South Africa’s dominance as the 1996 AFCON winners made repeated raids into the Cranes penalty area through winger Oswin Appollis who was wiping the floor with Cranes right back Elvis Bwomono.
If the Cranes match the second half intensity which resulted in two quick fire goals from Denis Omedi and Rogers Mato, they will almost certainly leave the Nelson Mandela National Stadium with all the spoils.
Crowd favourite Travis Mutyaba wowed in June’s World Cup qualifier against Algeria, so he is difficult to overlook but the team’s overall output improved markedly after Allan Okello’s introduction. While Okello is no playmaking slouch, this shows the Cranes thrive best while playing adrenaline driven football.
None of the late substitutes really distinguished himself, so it’s going to be a hard ask for Put to drop Omedi, Mato or Steven Mukwala who put in a good shift despite not appearing in the score sheet.
Watenga’s man of the match display and calm demeanour in a harsh environment dictates he’s a shoo-in to inherit the captain’s armband from Khalid Aucho in the not too distant future.
RESULTS
South Africa 2-2 Uganda,
Malawi 2-3 Burundi,
Mauritania 1-0 Botswana,
Kenya 0-0 Zimbabwe,
Cameroon 1-0 Namibia,
Nigeria 3-0 Benin,
Ivory Coast 2-0 Zambia,
Egypt 3-0 Cape Verde,
Mali 1-1 Mozambique,
Morocco 4-1 Gabon
MONDAY
Uganda v Congo Brazzaville,
Burundi v Senegal,
Madagascar v Comoros,
Niger v Ghana,
Equatorial Guinea v Togo,
Lesotho v Morocco,
Angola v Sudan,
Ethiopia v DR Congo
