South Sudan host Uganda in temporary Nairobi home
Uganda’s national football team, “The Cranes” train at the Nyayo National Stadium on November 15, 2020 on eve of their Africa Cup of Nations Group ‘B’ qualifier against South Sudan.
What you need to know:
- “The Cranes” are second in Group ‘B’ with seven points after three matches and a win in Nairobi will all but assure them of a place in the regional showpiece that will be held in Cameroon in 2022 January.
- “The Cranes” forward Allan Okello has urged his teammates not to underrate South Sudan. “We did a lot of mistakes during the first leg and hope that we shall have a far much better game on Monday. All the players are in good shape ahead of the match.
Africa’s youngest nation, South Sudan, hosts Uganda Cranes in a 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier at the Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi on Monday from 4pm.
Uganda won the first leg encounter played at the St Mary’s Stadium in Kitende on Thursday 1-0 courtesy of a Halid Lwaliwa late header. South Sudan are using Nairobi as their temporary home-ground as their stadium in Juba is not yet ready to host international matches.
“The Cranes” are second in Group ‘B’ with seven points after three matches and a win in Nairobi will all but assure them of a place in the regional showpiece that will be held in Cameroon in 2022 January.
“The Cranes” forward Allan Okello has urged his teammates not to underrate South Sudan. “We did a lot of mistakes during the first leg and hope that we shall have a far much better game on Monday. All the players are in good shape ahead of the match.
“We had good first training on Saturday at Kasarani and on Sunday at Nyayo. We are ready for action and hope to get a win,” he said. South Sudan captain Peter Maker has termed the game a do or die affair.
The team is at the bottom of the group with no point having played three matches.
He is, however, optimistic the team can resuscitate their qualification chances with a win against Uganda this afternoon.
“People expected us to lose with a bigger margin more but this is no longer the South Sudan national team they used to know. We now have a team that I can proudly say can compete with any country,” Maker told Nation Sport after training at the Nyayo National Stadium Sunday.
“The first leg game wasn’t easy for both teams. Uganda punished us with their only chance of the game while we created so many chances that we did not utilize. Our chances will be determined in Monday’s match – it is a must-win, if we lose then we don’t have any chances of qualifying for the Africa Cup of Nations finals,”
“We have learned from our mistakes and have a game plan against Uganda. If it works then we will win.” He added.
Maker also heaped praises on AFC Leopards midfielder Saad Musa who made his debut for the South Sudan national team in the 1-0 loss to Uganda Cranes.
“Saad is a very good player and he made a huge difference when he came in against Uganda. He is very comfortable on the ball and was instrumental in taking us forward. We were just unlucky not to score,” Maker, who has captained the team from 2019 said.
The team will however miss the services of Tusker FC striker David Majak after he tested positive for coronavirus just before the first leg encounter.
“We have had our last training at Nyayo National Stadium and I like the match venue, it has a very nice surface and I think we will enjoy playing football here, I am really looking forward to the game,” Uganda Cranes coach Jonathan McKinstry said.
