By Brian Bariyo Tumuramye
Egypt: Uganda Cranes is facing a do-or-die match against Zimbabwe’s Warriors today in the second Group A match that will be played at Cairo International Stadium.
It is the first time both teams are meeting in AFCON history, but Uganda has received warning that Zimbabwe will give its all against Uganda in order to revive their chances of advancing to the knock-out stages of the 2019 edition of the tournament. The Warriors suffered their first loss with a slim 0-1 loss to hosts Egypt.
Warriors star player Ovidy Karuru has said that they need to win at any cost, because the game determines their future but the Cranes perhaps feel as much if not more pressure to win tonight’s game because of a tougher game with Egypt next week.
Cranes Captain Dennis Onyango and his coach Sebastian Desabre have said as much noting that they want to go into the Egypt game aware of their fate. Onyango said: “We don’t want to overlook that (fact that they are playing Egypt next) because we are taking the match very serious so as to enter our last game knowing our fate.”
Desabre skirted questions as to fitness of Defender Mulshid Juuko, considering that he might need his services to keep away the Zimbabweans. He said: “Should Juuko get a booking today, he would miss the final group match against Egypt, although you could argue that today is more important.”
If recent meetings can be used as a precedent, Zimbabwe has better chances of winning the game. But Uganda is the most improved of the two sides according to FIFA rankings which placed Uganda in 80th position ahead of Warriors 109th.
Besides soccer, the two countries share a lot in common. Zimbabweans are proud of the Victoria falls that is located on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe as the biggest falls in Africa. But Uganda’s Murchison Falls rank among the most powerful and hence captivating when billions of cubic litters of water are forced into a narrow gorge of just 6metres before roaring several hundred meters down.
As tour promoter Ben Ntale of Ape-Treks Tours and Travel observes, the Victoria falls suffer from seasonal variations arising from frequent drought conditions that dries up water upstream, unlike the Murchison falls that flow undisturbed all year-round. “You can’t raft on the Zambezi all year round because there are times when the water levels are too low and the rocks are exposed,” says Ntale.
Indeed Uganda is endowed with far greater diversity in its natural tourism attractions than Zimbabwe. Uganda is widely regarded as the primate capital of the world with more than 57 percent of all mountain Gorillas left in the world. The rest of Man’s closest relatives are found in D.R Congo and Rwanda. Uganda also boasts several other apes such as Chimpanzees, Baboons and several rare monkey species.
Thanks to Uganda’s rich vegetation and abundant water sources, the country hosts some of the most rare bird species that are found in the Ituri forest in the Albertine region.
Zimbabwe’s very own inspirational muslim preacher Mufti Ismail Menk is the latest global figure to attest to Uganda’s beauty. Mufti Menk said : “I have always known Uganda as the Pearl of Africa, but now that I came, I realized that Uganda is the pearl of Africa when it comes to its food. It is really organic.”
