Cranes coach Paul Put must have watched his team’s group G World Cup qualifier 1-0 victory over Botswana with a mixture of relief and trepidation.
On one hand, three points keep Uganda in the mix to qualify from group G as they are in a four-way tie for leadership with Monday’s opponents Algeria, Mozambique and Guinea. On the other, the team’s old failings were evident for all and sundry to see.
The team’s problems were structural. Put deployed his players in a 3-4-3 formation but wing backs Isaac Muleme and Elvis Bwomono were neither here nor there.
They weren’t visible without the ball because the Zebras travelled to Kampala in search of a draw, and they weren’t a threat as an attacking force. Neither made a telling cross or pass before the breather.
Partly the issue was that Allan Okello and Stephen Mukwala occupied the very channels Muleme and Bwomono were supposed to be using to support the attack. They spent too much time hugging the touchline.
This created a two-fold problem of nullifying the wing backs contribution while denying Fahad Bayo enough support in Botswana’s penalty box. Little wonder Ronald Ssekiganda’s long range speculative effort was Cranes’ only shot on goal by half time.
Ssekiganda filled missing captain Khalid Aucho’s boots with distinction because he was one of three or four players together with Elio Capradossi and substitutes Rogers Mato plus Denis Omedi who had the physical and athletic ability to impose themselves on Botswana. Against Algeria’s Desert Foxes, the coach would be best advised to ensure all four of them are on the pitch simultaneously.
Okello and Travis Mutyaba may be good for aesthetics but they take away too much from the team’s overall physical and athletic balance to be of any impact against a team like Algeria who travel to Kampala keen to make amends for Thursday’s surprise 1-2 defeat at the hands of Guinea Conakry. We shall only be able to penetrate Vladimir Petkovic’s Desert Foxes if Mato and Mukwala start and are asked to play as close as possible to Bayo.