Uganda’s senior football team Cranes is yet to recover from a recent failure to qualify for a third straight Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) final.
And that was greeted with widespread public rage and made bitter by the retirement of senior players including skipper Denis Onyango, Mike Azira, and Hassan Wasswa.
Then Fufa also confirmed the sacking of suspended coach Johnny McKinstry, who had taken over from Frenchman Sebastian Desabre in 2019.
The Cranes may not be in the best of shape and should be one of the teams that welcomed the postponement of the 2022 Fifa World Cup Qualifiers from June to September to allow Fufa to put its house in order.
Whereas McKinstry’s void is yet to be filled, the Cranes will, regardless, use next month’s international break to play a friendly against South Africa at Orlando Stadium in Johannesburg on June 10.
The latter too just recently named Hugo Broos as new coach to replace Molefi Ntseki who also failed to take the Bafana Bafana to next year’s Afcon finals in Cameroon.
Broos led Cameroon to the Afcon title in 2017 and he has summoned a squad for this friendly but he has overlooked key names like Itumeleng Khune, Thulani Hlathwayo, Bongani Zungu, Themba Zwane, and Bradley Grobler.
This will be the first meeting between the Cranes and Bafana Bafana since the latter won 4-2 on penalties after a 1-all draw in the 2019 Cosafa Cup plate semi-final in Durban. Dan Sserunkuma scored first for Uganda before Luther Singh levelled for the hosts.
The Cranes will use the match to prepare the side before they face Mali, Rwanda, and Kenya on the road to next year’s Fifa World Cup in Qatar.
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This writer is a global broadcaster and as well a scribe with Daily Monitor Newspaper and sports presenter with Radio One FM 90 in Kampala. Follow him on Twitter: @AllanDarren and his Facebook Page: Darren Allan Kyeyune