‘Micho’ impressed by Cranes’ attitude

by Graeme Jackson

Tuesday Aug 17, 2021. 10:00

Returning Uganda coach Milutin Sredojevic has expressed his satisfaction after the Cranes got their preparations for the start of 2022 World Cup qualifiers underway.

‘Micho’ was joined by the team’s fitness and performance director Franck Plaine, goalkeeping coach Fred Kajoba Kisitu, team manager Geoffrey Massa and other officials as a camp of locally-based players underwent training on Monday.

Most of the called-up list were present, with the exception of players from Express and Kampala Capital City Authority, due to their participation in the 2021 Cecafa Kagame Cup in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Skipper Emmanuel Arnold Okwi, Yunus Sentamu and Egyptian based winger Abdul Lumala are also expected to join the camp soon.

“We have started the journey to the FIFA World Cup 2022 qualification process,” said Sredojevic, as quoted by the Uganda FA’s official website.

“Every successful journey begins with a single step and today, we have started. I am impressed by the mentality and attitude of the players. I will continue to monitor the performance of everyone as we intensify the sessions.”

Police FC defender Hassan Muhammod enjoyed being back in action after a lengthy spell of inactivity.

“We had our first training session on Monday morning. It was lively and good to be back to action after a long spell out. I expect to play catch up in [the] remaining session,” he explained.

His sentiment was echoed by Vipers captain Halid Lwaliwa: “I am happy to be back to the field of play after a lengthy time out because of the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown. I know we shall all compete well to perform to the best of expectations.”

Uganda will open their Group E campaign with a clash away to Kenya on September 2, followed by a home game against Mali four days later.