There is anxiety from the general public and the four successful applicants who were short listed on who will be the next Uganda Cranes head coach.
The final decision will be communicated in the next couple of days after the FUFA Executive convenes.
The short list of four coaches was forwarded to the Government of Uganda, who will further discuss the remuneration of the new coach.
Interim head coach Moses Basena, 52 faces a stern challenge from three non Ugandans.
Frenchman Sebastien Desabre, 41 is joined by Johnathan McKinstry (Northern Irish, 32 years) and Emilio Ferrera (Belgian, 50 years) in the race for the to seat left vacant after Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic terminated his employment contract with FUFA in July 2017 over unpaid wages.
The final list was formulated from the over 100 applicants who showed interest in the job.
The trimming job of the applicants was done by a five man technical team headed by former Zambia FA boss Kalusha Bwalya.
The other members of the panel had Edgar Watson (FUFA Chief Executive Officer), Asuman Lubowa (FUFA Technical Director), Stone Kyambadde (Technical Committee chairperson) and Dr. Bernard Patrick Ogwel (National Council of Sports representative).
Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA) has since submitted the four-man shortlist to the sports ministry as part of the final decision process.
Uganda State Minister for Sports, Charles Bakkabulindi confirmed they received the communication and names of the shortlisted coaches.
We shall go through the details and come out with our position
Who is who?
Moses Basena (Ugandan):
Moses Basena is the only Ugandan national named on the final short list.
At 52 years, he is the oldest of the four, two years older than Belgian Emilio Ferrera.
For starters, Basena is a former Uganda Cranes player and he is Germany trained tactician with a CAF ‘A’ coaching license.
He was assistant coach to Micho for four years and has been interim coach since the departure of the Serbian.
Basena is a known disciplinarian with vast knowledge and coaching experience at club and national level.
He was with the Uganda Cranes at AFCON 2017 finals in Gabon. His close working experience with Micho greatly benefited him as a person and added to his rich experience.
Like the rest of the applicants, he is a hands on coach, strict and an awesome parent-like coach best remembered for mending the hostile relationship between former coach Micho and star midfielder William Luwagga Kizito.
Shortly after Micho’s untimely departure, Basena was at the helm of the team when he guided Uganda Cranes to a famous 1-0 victory against the much fancied Egypt at Mandela National Stadium during a FIFA 2018 World Cup qualifier.
For 65 years, Uganda Cranes had not defeated Egypt.
Emilio Ferrera (Belgian):
Emilio Ferrera was born on 19th June 1967 in Schaarbeek city, Belgium.
Ferrera is aged 50 years and he is also a former Belgian international who is currently employed with the Under 21 team at Belgian champions, Anderlecht.
His last former club was OH Leuven in the Belgian First Division B. Before he also worked at Genk, where he was fired after coaching only one match following a 1-3 season-opening defeat to KV Mechelen.
If successful, he will be working in Africa for the very first time.
This puts him at a disadvantage for him over the rest of the candidates who have working experience with African football.
His family emigrated from the Spanish village El Cerro de Andévalo in 1962. His brothers, Manu and Francisco, and his nephew Yannick, are all football coaches.
Sébastien Desabre (French):
Sébastien Desabre was born in the French city of Valence. He is aged 41 years.
The one stumbling block in his path is that he has never coached any national team but is endowed with a wealth of experience in club football.
He has had spells with clubs in Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria and Morocco.
His club coaching journey has witnessed him coach French outfit ESC Rocheville as assistant and later head coach, ASEC Mimosas (Cote D’Ivoire), CS Garoua (Cameroon), ES Tunis (Tunisia), Clube Recreativo Desportivo Libolo (Angola), Dubai Club (United Arab Emirates4), JS Saoura (Algeria), Wydad Athletic Club (Morocco) and lately Ismaily in Egypt.
Jonathan McKinstry (Northern Irish):
Jonathan McKinstry was born on 16th July 1985. He hails from Lisburn City in Northern Ireland.
He is the youngest of the four short listed coaches on the final short list.
He was once the youngest national team tactician in the entire world when he landed the head coach job for the Sierra Leone national football team in 2013.
He later coached Rwanda national football between 2015 to 2016.
His early career was focused on elite youth development through roles with Newcastle United, New York Red Bulls, the Right to Dream Academy and the Craig Bellamy Foundation.
During his previous spells with national team football, he saw Sierra Leone rise to 50th, their country’s best position in the FIFA rankings and 69th for Rwanda.
Currently he is head coach at Lithuanian A-Lyga club FK Kauno Zalgiris since July 2017.
It remains to be known whether the new coach will come along with his back room staff or the Federation will name the assistant coach as well.
The new coach will handle the Uganda Cranes at the 2018 Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) in Morocco.
Uganda was drawn in group B with Zambia, Namibia and Cote d’Ivoire.
Group B will be based in Marrakech city.
Uganda Cranes Coaches since 1969
- Burkhard Pape – 1969-1972
- David Otti – 1973-1974
- Westerhoff Otto – 1974-1975
- Peter Okee – 1976-1981, 1983
- Bidandi Ssali- 1982
- George Mukasa – 1984-1985
- Barnabas Mwesigwa – 1986-1988
- Robert Kiberu – 1988-1989
- Polly Ouma – 1989-1995
- Timothy Ayieko – 1995-1996
- Asuman Lubowa – 1996-1999
- Paul Hasule – 1999
- Harrison Okagbue 1999-2001
- Paul Hasule- 2001-2003
- Pedro Pasculi – 2003
- Leo Adraa – 2003-2004
- Mike Mutebi – 2004
- Mohammood Abbas – 2004-2006
- Laszlo Csaba- 2006-2008
- Bobby William- 2008-2013
- Milutin Sredojevic – 2013-2017
- Moses Basena –August 2017 to-date
