Wednesday, January 18
*DR Congo 0-0 Ivory Coast
*Senegal 0-1 Uganda
Table
- Uganda – 4pts
- Senegal – 3
- DR Congo – 2
- Ivory Coast – 1
Uganda Cranes beat Senegal 1-0 in their second Group B game at the ongoing African Nations Championship in Algeria.
Captain Milton Karisa scored the only goal of the game in the 33rd minute in a thriller at the 19th May 1956 Stadium in Annaba.
In an eventful affair, Cranes goalkeeper Alionzi Nafian saved from a spot kick, Cranes had their own penalty overturned by VAR while the Lions of Terranga finished with 10-men after a Red Card deep in the second stanza.
The Victory against Senegal who beat Ivory Coast 1-0 in their opener, sends the Cranes on top of Group B with four points having drawn their opener goalless with DR Congo.
And Cranes, who have never gone past the groups in all their past five tournaments, are on the verge of breaking the jinx.
Check – Betting in Uganda
At least a draw against Ivory Coast on Sunday will be enough to take the Uganda Cranes to their first ever CHAN Quarterfinals.
The win came just hours after FUFA announced the return of Telecommunications Company MTN as the official sponsor of the Uganda Cranes in a Sh12bn five-year partnership.
Resilient Cranes On Brink Of History
Alongside DR Congo, the Uganda Cranes are taking part in their sixth CHAN tournament, a record appearance.
But the Cranes have never gone past the group stages!
In fact, Wednesday’s 1-0 victory over Senegal is Uganda’s second at CHAN tournament ever.
The first win came against Burkina Faso when Yunus Sentamu scored brace in a 2-1 win at the 2013 edition in South Africa.
In total, Uganda have played 17 games at CHAN, winning two, drawing 6 and losing 9.
In the previous edition, the Cranes lost two games managed just one draw in a performance that FUFA President Moses Magogo referred to as ‘Shitty Football’
The performance under Micho has not improved per say, but at least the results are coming.
The Serbian made one change from the team that picked a draw against DR Congo, with Kenneth Ssemakula starting ahead of Karim Watambala.
The SC Villa player paid back Micho’s trust and earned himself a Man of the match gong.
Many would have given that to goalkeeper Nafian Alionzi after the URA shot stopper saved Cheikh Sidibe’s penalty in the 27th minute.
And that gave Uganda Cranes the confidence, with six minutes later on, Karisa broke the deadlock when his effort after a well weighed ball in the area took a slight deflection off a Senegal defender to find its way into the back of the net.
Karisa was once again outstanding as he relied on his pace to trouble Senegal.
The Vipers winger thought he had won Uganda a penalty when the referee pointed to the spot after he was shoved from the back.
But the referee was asked by VAR team to view the incident on the monitor, where he judged that the contact was not sufficient enough and Karisa had put in much theatre in his dive.
VAR was into play once again when the Referee overturned an initial yellow card on Libasse Ngom for a challenge on Karim Watambala into a red card after a review.
And with Senegal reduced to 10, the result could only be a win for Uganda Cranes, and a place on the Group B summit as the teams await decisive encounters on Sunday.
Players Used
Senegal – Sy Mamadou, Cheikhou Ndiaye, Ousmane Diouf, Mamadou Sane, Cheikh Sidibe, Lamine Camara, Ousmane Kane, Moussa Ndiaye, Papa Diallo, Malick Mbaye, Cheikh Ibra Diouf
Uganda – Alionzi Nafian, James Begisa, Derrick Ndahiro, Geoffrey Wasswa, Gift Fred, Kenneth Ssemakula, Marvin Youngman, Moses Waiswa, Frank Ssebuufu, Rogers Mato, Milton Karisa
