Uganda Cranes number one Denis Onyango has urged the fans to rally behind the team even when results are hard to come by.
The Cranes lost 1-0 to Ghana on day one with most fans disappointed in the result but the Mamelodi Sundowns goalie says they should instead keep the support.
“After 39 years absence from the Africa Cup of Nations, it was always going to be difficult,” Onyango told Kawowo Sports. “To almost every player, this is the first biggest tournament and I think the boys are giving it all. They need the support of everyone as this is a learning curve,” he added.
The African Player of the Year (Based in Africa) says the support should be geared towards ensuring the team makes it habit to qualify for such a big tournaments and from there, the demand for result can come in.
Everyone should ensure we make it a habit to be at every final tournament. From then, they can demand the results since the experience will be there.
Onyango gave an example of how the team lost to the Black Stars saying the four-time champions used their experience despite not being dominant throughout the match on Tuesday.
We played a very experienced side in this tournament and when they got one goal, they knew it was over. For us, it’s a lesson as we return after 39 years. For they are used to this and they pressurized us in the first 30 minutes, got a goal and sat back.
Micho’s charges started slow in the first half and were on the back foot for the first half hour but improved after the break without success.
We were first conservative, tried to sit a little back and observe the situation but I think in a tournament of this caliber, you need to go out all from the start and see the outcome of the game. We need to change the approach in our next games.
Next in line for the 1978 finalists is seven-time African champions Egypt and Onyango is already relishing the moment of facing the best.
Playing against a good team and experienced with a lot of good players is a challenge but we came here to face the best and must not say we are the weakest but we must learn from these things.
It’s always difficult but like I said, we are here to learn from the best if we give the same performance that we raised against Ghana in the second half, use the same effort, fight until the final whistle, we can get a good result.
Nothing short of a point against Hector Cuper’s charges will see the Cranes out of the competition with a game against Mali still lurking.
