The Uganda Cranes made amends for their first leg shortfall by beating a visiting Madagascan side in front of a home crowd in full voice in their 2015 Africa Cup Nations qualifier.
Ugandan striker Geoffrey Massa’s early first half goal was enough to seal the victory, but he should have added his name more on the score sheet after wasting more than two chances in front of goal.
Saturday’s triumph kept Coach Micho Sredojevic’s side in touch with their campaign to Morocco, and the Serbian tactician will have been pleased with the nature of comeback his boys put up at Mandela National Stadium, especially after he admitted prior to the match that he had had a tough week trying to gather his foreign-based players.
The result was exactly what the home fans needed out of their team, after questions were raised following Uganda’s defeat a fortnight ago to the Barea Stars, who sit 103 places below the Ugandans in the Fifa world rankings.
Back on the artificial turf of the Rabermanjara stadium, the Ugandans were hit by a sobering reality check – that a better ranking does not necessarily guarantee a better result on pitch – and so they felt the urgency to make every bit of this rude awakening count back home.
While the visitors needed only a draw to move on, the hosts knew a 1-0 win in their favour would guarantee them progress.
The two sides had not met in this competition since April 1983, when Madagascar beat Uganda over two legs, riding on the away goals rule, to advance.
Fast-forward to today, and you could say the hosts enjoyed the advantage of playing on a familiar ground as opposed to the artificial surface back in Madagascar on which they struggled.
NV
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