On March 24, Liberia will host Uganda in the 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign tie in group J. However, the clash won’t be the first between the two nations as they have met twice before albeit in a different competition (2000 Africa Nations Cup qualifying campaign).
According to statistics, each side boosts of one win and no game has ended in a draw. Ahead of only their third meeting in history, Kawowo Sports’ Ismael Kiyonga revisits history books and writes about the previous two clashes:
January 24th, 1999 – Liberia 2-0 Uganda (Group 7 2000 AFCON qualifier 1st leg):
It was Uganda’s second game in the group that also had North Africans Tunisia and Algeria. Having beaten Algeria 2-1 in their opening game of the campaign, the Cranes were in buoyant mood when they landed in Monrovia to take on the Lone Stars who had lost 2-1 in their previous game to Tunisia.
Inspired by 1995 World Player of the Year George Opong Weah, Liberia beat Uganda 2-0 to earn their first maximum points of the campaign.
June 6th, 1999 – Uganda 1-0 Liberia (Group 7 2000 AFCON qualifier 2nd leg):
Following back to losses to Tunisia (6-0 and 0-2), The Cranes recovered by beating Liberia 1-0 at Nakivubo Stadium to earn their second and last win of the campaign. Debutant Phillip Ssozi was the hero on the day as he joined a distinguished list of Ugandan players that have scored on their debut.
Former AC Milan star George Weah missed the encounter after he was caught up in an alleged ‘organised traffic jam’ from Entebbe International Airport. He had decided to travel on his own on match day as his team had arrived a few days earlier.
With both teams at square statistically, which team will come out on top in third meeting?
