U-20 Africa Qualifiers:
- 1st Leg (Saturday, 31st March 2018): Uganda Hippos Vs South Sudan – Lugogo
- 2nd Leg (20th – 22nd April 2018): South Sudan Vs Uganda Hippos – Juba
With barely five days left to the first leg of the AFCON U-20 qualifier with South Sudan at Lugogo this Saturday, the Uganda U-20 team (The Hippos) has taken shape after the head coach Mathias Lule trimmed on the number of players by Sunday.
There are now 25 players from the originally summoned 28 players including the additions deemed necessary by the selectors and coaches.
According to the team media officer, Farid Mpagi, the players and officials are now accommodated at the Africa Bible University, Lubowa, off Entebbe road for bonding and intensified training purposes.
“Only 25 players have been considered for the training camp at Lubowa (Africa Bible University) as the team continues with the training ahead of the first leg at Lugogo” Mpagi told Kawowo Sports.
Left out:
Spanish based left back Victor Matovu, SC Villa Jogoo’s teenager Abdallah Salim and Mbarara City’s Clinton Kamugisha have all been left out for varying reasons.
The return leg is set for the weekend of 20-22nd April in Juba.
Lule, who is also the assistant coach to Uganda Cranes head coach Sebastien Desabre is the U-20 team lead tactician.
Former Express and Uganda Cranes winger James Odoch as the assistant coach.
Another former Express and Uganda Cranes goalkeeper Samuel Kawalya is the goalkeeping coach.
For starters, Kawalya is now head coach at Mbarara based Mbarara City Football Club in the Uganda Premier League.
Of late, new Uganda Cranes fitness and physical trainer Gerome D’Antonio assisted with the team to fine tune the bodies of the players.
Meanwhile, the team training resumes on Monday morning.