By Spy Uganda
Kampala: Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA) has rewarded the national U-20 team (Hippos) with a total kitty of $ 160,000.
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This was officially announced by the FUFA President Eng. Moses Magogo during a welcome luncheon held at Imperial Golf View Hotel in Entebbe.
The Hippos were rewarded for finishing second during their debut AFCON U-20 tournament hosted by Mauritania, falling 2-0 to champions Ghana.
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Eng. Magogo congratulated the entire team for the remarkable feat, tagging it as work in progress before he announced the $160,000 token.
“As FUFA, we set ourselves a vision to be the number one footballing nation in Africa on and off the field of play. We are very ambitious. We are very happy and not disappointed at all.
There is an element of humanity and reality that we must accept. We achieved this by qualifying for the first-ever AFCON finals tournament. Even the best sprinter in the world started by crawling. For us as FUFA, it remains a work in progress as a country. As players, you are in the development stages.
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This should draw more appetite. FUFA has a very proper strategy to achieve the results. I want to appreciate the FUFA Youth development officer Bashir Mutyaba who has overseen that youth competitions are very organized. I also thank the clubs that have given the youth players a chance to play. Football is a process and not an event. The senior team has to play at the FIFA World Cup. To the players, keep your heads high,” Eng Magogo stated.
FUFA First Vice President Justus Mugisha was full of praises for the team, hinting at the Tunisian massacre in the semi-final as the sweetest victory.
“I want to thank the players for the special performance while at the AFCON U-20 in Mauritania. You showed class, determination and character. I am very happy and was extremely overwhelmed by the 4-1 victory in the semi-finals against Tunisia. This was the best football player,” Mugisha disclosed.
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Leader of delegation Rogers Mulindwa saluted the efforts of the Federation, all the players, the technical team and all the support staff for the collective responsibility.
“I thank all the parties at play that joined the hands together to achieve this success. We were a team committed to achieving.
The initial target was to get out of the group stages and we made it. We believed in ourselves and made it. In 6 matches played, we won three men of the match accolades, scored 8 goals and conceded 5 with 4 wins.
We got the only hattrick of the tournament, the top scorer, silver medals, two players and coach in the CAF team of the tournament and the CAF Fair play award. I also thank the FUFA management led by president Eng. Moses Magogo and Sunset Hotel in Mauritania where the team was accommodated,” Mulindwa stated.
