Uganda Cranes again at it at Namboole with Madagascar

The Cranes were two weeks ago however given a rude awakening of how deceptive FIFA’s rankings can be. Uganda was beaten 2-1 by a visibly better playing Madagascar in the first leg of Nations Cup preliminaries.

As the Cranes take on the Barea in the return leg at Namboole today, the 1-0 target that the hosts have to advance would appear an easy task. But just like in the first leg, the Cranes could be in for a huge surprise if they don’t take the visitors seriously.

The recent loss wasn’t the first time that Madagascan triumph over Uganda was happening. In qualifiers for the 1984 Nations Cup finals, the same opponents beat Uganda 1-0 in Madagascar. Uganda won the return leg 2-1 but Madagascar advanced on strength of the away goals rule.

“We can only take them lightly at our own peril,” warned a member of that Cranes side Paul Ssali.

“They are ball players like Ethiopia. If we play to their rhythm, we are finished,” cautioned Ssali.

Ssali, who kept the posts that time, wants Uganda to be aggressive.

“We should be more physical and also make use of the long ball.”
Many people are expected to attend including tourist doing Uganda safaris here.