Tuesday, March 21
*Uganda Cranes Vs Ismaily SC, 5pm
(Suez Canal Stadium, Ismailia – Egypt)
Uganda Cranes will play Ismaily SC in the friendly as Coach Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredejovich continues to fine tune his side ahead of Tanzania clash.
The match will come three days before the Cranes face Tanzania in AFCON Qualifiers this Friday at Suez Canal in Egypt.
The Cranes, hosting in Egypt after no stadium in Uganda passed CAF standards, left the Country on Sunday.
They had a Gym session at Guard Hotel in Cairo before travelling to Ismailia City.
The team held their first training session on Monday at Mercure Playground in Ismailia City.
And Tuesday’s friendly will help Micho gauge his players in a game-situation.
But it remains to be seen which players Ismaily SC will field having played on Monday in Egypt Cup against Ghazl El Mehalla, which they won in shootouts after 1-1 in normal time.
Ismaily SC sit second from the bottom just after 20 games.
They are three-time Egypt Premier League winners 1967, 1991 and 2002).
Ismaily SC won the CAF Champions League in 1969, and were beaten finalists by Enyimba FC (Nigeria).
This, will be the second friendly for the Cranes prior to the Tanzania clash having lost 2-0 to Kitara in the Regional tour before flying out.
Stars Jet In
Goalkeeper Charles Lukwago (St George Ethiopia) and Defender Halid Lwaliwa (Bregalnica, Macedonia) are the two foreign-based players who featured in the Cranes regional tour loss against Kitara.
Salim Jamal Magoola, Fahad Bayo and Timothy Awany joined the team in Cairo before flying to Ismailia City.
The other foreign based players who joined the team on Monday are Joseph Ochaya, Aziz Kayondo, Richard Basangwa and Steven Mukwala.
Gavin Kizito and Bobosi Byaruhanga were the first to join the team in Egypt.
Farouk Miya, Isma Mugulusi, Khalid Aucho, Emmanuel Okwi and Steven Sserwadda are expected to join later on Tuesday.
It’s strong to note that the Cranes will face Tanzania next week on Tuesday at Benjamin Mkapa National Stadium in Dar es Salaam, after Friday’s clash.
The Cranes started their campaign with a 2-0 loss away to Algeria before a 1-1 draw with Niger at Kitende back in June last year.
And they sit bottom of Group F with just a point, and they are eyeing at least four points from the double-header against Tanzania’s Taifa Stars to resurrect qualification chances.
The top two teams will qualify for the AFCON due next year in January in Ivory Coast.
After the Tanzania double-header, the Cranes host Algeria in June before ending the campaign with an away game against Niger.
