Katongole George
16:29

Cranes Coach Blames CAF for Team's Loss

13 Oct 2008, 10:45 1640 Views Kampala, Uganda Sport Report
As the Uganda Cranes recover from their ejection from the qualifying rounds of the Africa Cup of Nations and the World Cup, attention is turning towards possible causes of the national team's failure. Bobby Williamson, the Cranes head coach, blames the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for Uganda's fate. He says the fact that Sunday's game between the Cranes and Benin came just before the decisive group game between Angola and Niger was a psychological challenge for the cranes players. Uganda came close to making it to the next qualifying round after beating Benin 2-1 at Namboole. However this was not enough for the team to qualify for the next round of matches. Williamson says the delayed start of the Angola Niger match worked against the Cranes and wants CAF to schedule all group qualifying matches at exactly the same time in the future. //Cue in: iAlthough we #i Cue out: i# trying for qualification.i// Assistant Cranes coach, Sam Ssimbwa, says the team's loss is a blessing in disguise. He says it is an opportunity for Uganda's football administrators to put in place solid structures to ensure better training and development of the game at ground level. In the East and Central Africa regions, Rwanda, Sudan and Kenya are the only to make it to the qualifying stages. They join Guinea, Cameroon, Benin, Nigeria, Ghana, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Togo. Other countries that have qualified include Mozambique, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Zambia, Malawi and Egypt. The 20 teams that have made it through will be drawn into five groups for the second phase next year. The group winners will qualify for the World Cup in South Africa and the top three will participate in the Africa Cup of Nations.

 

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Katongole George