Crested Cranes want flying start
Ready To Fire. Nassuna attempts to shoot during training on Tuesday. PHOTO | FUFA MEDIA
Crested Cranes come under scrutiny at the Cecafa Women Championship that starts today at Fufa Technical Centre - Njeru, and a nation awaits.
The July 2-23 Africa Women Cup of Nations (Awcon)-bound national football team start their preparatory tournament in a clash against Rwanda this afternoon and their newly appointed captain Shadia Nankya is saying the things that many would like to hear.
“We assure you that we will give our level best because we are here to compete and not to participate,” the lanky Uganda Christian University (UCU) Lady Cardinals defender who will be deputized surprisingly by her club captain Hasifah Nassuna, said at the pre-tournament press conference yesterday.
Rwanda will be no pushovers. The last and only time Uganda played Rwanda, the match ended in a 2-all draw with all four goals scored in the second half of their Cecafa 2018 meeting in Kigali.
“This time, we want to show that they are no match for us. And we pray that the entire nation rallies behind us because we need you as much as you need us,” Nankya, who had just broken into the national team in April that year, said.
An eye on Awcon
Coach George Lutalo has played most of his cards close to his chest. Even though all his pitch training sessions were open to the media, his two test games were played behind closed doors.
He also read his final squad as late as yesterday mid-morning and while it would be ideal to concentrate on the tournament at hand, Awcon is just about a month away. There is no chance that it was not on the back of Lutalo’s mind during selection.
The high profile omissions are; She Corporate captain Naume Nagadya - who last played for the national team in 2016, Canada and Belgium-based starlet Salena Allibhai plus arguably the most capped player after Ruth Aturo in right back Viola Namuddu.
“Everyone, whether in the final squad for this tournament or not, stays in camp and still has a chance to make the Awcon team. We are still organizing ourselves to see that we take the best players to the continental stage,” he added.
Playing safe
Some would, however, argue that Lutalo has made life easier for himself by keeping some players that will surely not be on the plane to Morocco when the remaining foreign-based contingent turns up for Awcon preps. Surely two of the goalkeepers could make way for Vanessa Edith Karungi and usual captain Ruth Aturo turn up. While one of the seven defenders, one could make way for US-based Yudaya Nakayenze. A midfield of five for an 11-day tournament surely looks short and could be bolstered with the arrival of Tracy Jones Akiror, who expects to leave USA before Cecafa climaxes.
It is among the forwards that the real competition remains. Eight have been maintained but Lutalo still hopes to have Viola Nambi and Ritah Kivumbi.
