UGANDA A POINT AWAY FROM ROUND OF 16 AFTER ZIMBABWE DRAW: AFCON 2019

By Jolly Gwari

Uganda moved to a point away from qualifying to the round of 16 after playing to a one all draw with Zimbabwe in both teams’ second game of the AFCON 2019 tournament.

Regardless of having a brilliant start that saw them scoring as early as the 12th minute through Emmanuel Okwi, Uganda found a hard time with the Zimbabweans. Notably, Uganda Cranes coach Sebastian Desabre has said his boys played under pressure after scoring their only goal against Zimbabwe. According to Desabre, his players didn’t manage the game well following the goal by Okwi. “We scored first and after that goal, we accepted the pressure of the game. We gave out too much. We failed to control it and conceded a goal,” he said during the post-match press conference.

Desbare also admitted that the absence of Murushid Jjuuko also played to the team’s disadvantage because they were not so good in the back. He, however, noted that the boys stabilized in the second half to force a draw off a resurgent Zimbabwe whose attacks were commanded by Knowledge Musona and menace man Khama Billiat. In the second half, both teams had a fair share of the ball with both making numerous attacks on each other’s goal but the final whistle saw settle for a draw.

The result means Uganda is only a point away from playing in the round of 16 on four points and is second in the group after hosts Egypt beat DRC two nil to go top on six points. Uganda is now second in group A with 4 points, two off table leaders Egypt who beat DRC two nil later.