By Brian Bariyo Tumuramye
Faruku Miya’s first half penalty was the lone strike that Uganda Cranes needed to overcome West Africans Ivory Coast 1-0 in an international friendly match played at Sheikh Zayed Sport City on Saturday afternoon.
Miya struck the from the penalty spot in the 35th minute to guide Uganda Cranes to victory.
Head coach Sebastien Desabre was impressed about the performance of the team calling for focus and concentration ahead of the 2019 TOTAL AFCON finals in Egypt.
‘We played the match against Ivory Coast in situations. It was a perfect game to assess some players and hope the team will be ready for the AFCON finals first game. There was positive attitude throughout the match. Winning in football is important for the mental preparedness of the team. After tomorow (Sunday), there will be another change of focus when we arrive in Egypt’ remarked Desabre moments after the match.
Desabre also appreciated the fans who threw their weight behind the Uganda Cranes for the entire duration of the match.
‘It was very important to give an emotion to the fans to show that we have done preparations. We shall try to do the maximum for them and the country as a whole’ added Desabre.
The coach urged for collective display from all the players in a bid to foster cohesion, a team pillar in the team building process.
‘The most important for us is to work a one complete unit with good coordination and focus. At this level, we are ready with the organization and the talents. There is need for cohesion coupled with the individual players to work for the best desired results’ he added.
This was the second international friendly match for Uganda Cranes after the goal-less stalemate against Asian country Turkmenistan a week earlier.
The Uganda Cranes will travel to Cairo, Egypt on Monday, 22nd June 2019.
