Uganda Cranes coach Desabre Sebastien acknowledged plenty of positives during his tenure at the helm of the East African nation since taking over in December, 2017.
The Frenchman helped Uganda qualify on back-to-back attempts to the
Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in November for the first time in 41 years.
Now Uganda will feature alongside fellow East Africa nations Burundi, Tanzania and Kenya.
Despite the regional vibe ahead of the finals in Egypt, he however is not counting the eggs before they hatch for the region.
“It’s not too early [to talk about an East African football renaissance],” Desabre said in a recent interview with ESPN.
“Of course, there are 24 teams [at Afcon] when there were only 16 in previous years, but Kenya still beat Ghana in qualification, [Uganda] had a good campaign, Tanzania qualified. Something’s happening in the east, that’s undeniable.
Only Uganda featured at the previous edition in Gabon two years ago. Burundi are debutants while Kenya is back for the first time since 2004 yet Tanzania last featured in 1980.
“There’s an element of pride. We’re proud to have been given an objective, and to have achieved it.” Desabre said of the Cranes.
The Afcon will be his second tournament with the Cranes. On his first assignment, Uganda lost to Zambia and Namibia before bowing out of the Chan 2018 finals with a draw against Ivory Coast.
But he reckons things have changed with the Cranes since taking over. “Now, we’ve succeeded in producing good football, in scoring goals, qualifying rather early for the competition.”
“There’s been an evolution with the team, because I made strong choices in terms of preparation, hotels, logistics (for Egypt), with staff, as well, with the medical team.
“We’ve professionalized - all in 18 months - as this wasn’t the case when I arrived; it was still very amateur.
“I think this was because of the lack of financial support from the government, which isn’t the case today, where we have a government that supports the team so that we can put in place things which are absolutely fundamental in our preparation, and which will serve us [well] for the upcoming [Afcon] planning.”
Uganda will open the tournament against DR Congo on June 22 before meeting Zimbabwe four days later in Cairo.
The Cranes wrap up Group A business against hosts Egypt, whom they are meeting at the
Afcon finals for the fifth time in history.
2019 TOTAL AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS
Group A: Egypt (Hosts), DR Congo, Uganda, Zimbabwe
Group B: Nigeria, Guinea, Madagascar, Burundi
Group C: Senegal, Algeria, Kenya, Tanzania
Group D: Morocco, Ivory Coast, South Africa, Namibia
Group E: Tunisia, Mali, Mauritania, Angola
Group F: Cameroon (Holders), Ghana, Benin, Guinea-Bissau
CRANES FIXTURES
June 22: Uganda vs. DR Congo, Cairo
June 26: Uganda vs. Zimbabwe, Cairo
June 30: Egypt vs. Uganda, Cairo
This writer is a global broadcaster and as well 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
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