Cranes face goal-keeping predicament Up to five first team players are likely to miss Uganda Cranes’ 2015 Nations Cup qualification campaign opening game. Cranes start their campaign with an away trip to Madagascar on May 18 but coach Micho Sredojevic will have to undertake the assignment without some key names due to injuries and club commitments. The goal-keeping department is likely to be affected the most after Robert Odongkara sustained a knee injury while featuring for his Ethiopian side St. George on Tuesday. Odongkara has been Cranes’ number one since Micho took over as Cranes coach about a year ago. “Odongkara couldn’t move on Tuesday but he was able to walk on Wednesday,” Micho revealed during yesterday’s weekly Fufa press conference in Mengo. Dennis Onyango, hitherto a mainstay in Cranes goal before Micho opted for Odongkara, is also likely to miss the Madagascar trip as a result of his club Bidvets Wits’ involvement in the South African Nedbank Cup final against Orlando Pirates a day before Uganda’s game. “We are thinking of flying Onyango from South Africa to Madagascar after his game,” Micho explained before adding that Hamza Muwonge has been lined up as a possible replacement. “He (Muwonge) has impressed at his Kenyan Thika United and would be a good option if the two don’t make it,” he said. The 35-man Cranes squad has two other goalkeepers in Vipers’ Ismail Watenga and Benjamin Ochan of Sports Club Victoria University (SCVU). Like Odongkara, Micho revealed that midfielder Moses Oloya is also a doubt after suffering an injury while at Vietnamese side Bihn Dong. Micho pointed out that the technical committee was still in talks with Tony Mawejje’s Norwegian club FK Haugesund over the player’s availability. The club whose season is eight games old (after yesterday) has four league fixtures lined up between today and May 23 although Mawejje hasn’t appeared in their first seven engagements. Micho confirmed that striker Yunus Sentamu of DR Congo side AS Vita will be left out because of his club’s involvement in Caf Champions League. “Every club is allowed to sign three players as they go into the group stages so you cannot see them (AS Vita) releasing him,” Micho said. Because the game falls on a day not gazetted by Fifa, clubs are not mandated to release players for national duty. Cranes were due to start training last evening. They travel on May 16.
Posted on: Thu, 08 May 2014 21:39:27 +0000
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