By Denis Turyahebwa
Kampala: Following a disappointing goalless draw at St Mary’s Stadium, Kitende on Wednesday in the AFCON Qualifiers, Uganda Cranes’ captain and Mamelodi Sundowns stopper Denis Onyango is very confident the cranes will finish the task in Malawi on Monday 29th in the last game of the group.
Speaking to the press in the post-match convergence, Onyango said the boys will go to Malawi with the right attitude and play for the positive result on Monday.
“I’m happy with the performance of the boys, especially in the second half. We played better football and created more chances but as the coach said, it is still in our hands despite getting just a point today. We must go to Malawi with the right attitude and play for the positive result on Monday,’’ he said.
Onyango also applauded Vipers SC’s Starlet Ibrahim Orit for the brilliant performance after being introduced for Lumala at the start of the second half.
“We struggled in the first half but the introduction of the young star Orit and Moses gave us a boost to start attacking,” Onyango said.
Onyango also attached the struggle for the Cranes on the artificial turf at Kitende saying it’s normal for every player to face a challenge performing at the turf.
“Everyone struggles at the artificial turf. It doesn’t matter who you are. You saw how Burkina Faso also struggled despite having high-quality players, they instead resorted to time-wasting,” he added.
Meanwhile, Coach Abdallah Mubiru also still has confidence that Uganda will go to Malawi and get the result they need to Qualify.
In his statement after the game, Mubiru said God deserves thanks for the result although it might not be great but he enabled the Cranes to get a point.
“I’m happy with the efforts by the players and it gives us hope that we shall qualify,” Mubiru said.
“We shall go to Malawi and get points. We knew before the game that even if we won here, we still needed to get a point at least in Malawi,” Mubiru said.
In another group B match, Malawi beat South Sudan 1-0 away from home which puts them at seven points with Uganda Cranes just ahead of them with a point.
This means on Monday Uganda must at least pick a draw from Malawi to secure their place in next year’s AFCON.
