It’s quiet disgusting that the national U-20 side the Hippos couldn’t defend a 3-1 lead they deservedly earned in the first leg against Ghana’s Black Satellites. On Saturday, they terribly lost 3-0 in the second leg to bow out of the 2013 Africa U20 Youth Championship qualifiers on a 4-3 aggregate. A first half strike by Richmond Nketiah and two in the second from Ebenezar Attafuah and Emmanuel Gyamfi at Tamale sports ground meant that the Ghanaians progressed to the next round where they will meet North African giants Morocco for a slot in Algiers come next year.
With the dream to feature at the finals now vanished, Kawowo sports’ Ismael Kiyonga analyses the game over two legs and in his opinion tells why the Hippos lost and bowed out. Let’s get started:
Michael Anaba’s goal at Nakivubo
The Ghanaians got that important away goal at Nakivubo stadium in the first leg thanks to an error by skipper Yusuf Mukisa. Danger man Michael Anaba did capitalise on this to put Ghana into the lead inside five minutes. Though the team fought back to earn a 3-1 win, the damage was already done.
Conceding an early goal
With the Black Satellites in search of two unanswered goals, Richmond Nketiah got them one as early as the 6th minute at Tamale. This gave the hosts impetus to go on and fight for the second and eventually got the deserved goal through Attafuah before Emmanuel Gyamfi put the icing on the cake with the third to send Uganda out.
Complacency
Following a 3-1 win in the first leg, most our boys including the technical team grew unnecessary confidence. They sounded like it was game over even before travelling to Ghana and almost forgot that the game will be lost or won in the second leg. We have seen many a team over turn even the biggest of deficits but our boys might have forgotten this.
Absence of George Abege
Not that he would have carried the team himself but his absence affected the team. His height was a menace to Ghanaian defenders in the first leg and for an away game; his presence could have made a difference. He scored the equalizer away to Mozambique in the first qualifying round to salvage a draw for Uganda and also netted away from home against Rwanda’s junior wasps in a friendly game. One of the players intimated to Kawowo sports how a big blow it was not to travel with him before they left. No guarantee but his presence would have made a difference.
Change of tactics
Going by the team fielded, the technical team applied a 4-4-2 instead of a 4-3-3 used in the first leg. This relegated midfielders Gift Ali and Joseph Mpande yet they were impressive in the first leg and in the warm up games played. Starting Robert Omunuk, William Wadri, Julius Ogwang and Erisha Ssekisambu in an away game means the team was less by four players when not in possession since none of the quartet can fight for the ball when possession is lost. They are only important to the team when in possession which is less expected for an away game of such magnitude.
In my opinion, Mpande and Gift should have started ahead of Ssekisambu and Omunuk. This would have given the team numbers in midfield since the two can easily drop to help when possession is lost. Wadri and Ogwang have been impressive in training and warm up games and so deserved their starting berths.
In addition, I think Denis Bigala was not the right substitute for Julius Ogwang when the team was 1-0 down. Misi Katende would have been the right replacement for Julius since his versatility implies he could help the team both offensively and defensively.
