No sooner had Johnathan McKinstry been officially unveiled as the new head coach for the Uganda national football team (Uganda Cranes) than he revealed the personal target of securing a slot to the coveted FIFA World Cup.
For starters, McKinstry was handled a three year employment contract by the local football governing body, Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA) effective 1st October 2019.
“I want to see that Uganda Cranes qualifies for the FIFA World Cup finals. It is a big dream that we have to work towards as a team. It is achievable with proper planning and preparations” McKinstry stated.
Uganda has never played at any FIFA World Cup final tournament and this remains a dream for the country that harbours over 40 million people.
McKinstry, 34, a former Sierra Leone and Rwanda National head coach, is the man now tasked to deliver Uganda to the “promised land”.
“We chose McKinstry over the rest of the many applicants because he is within the right age bracket for many Uganda Cranes players, and his ambitions rhyme with those of FUFA” Edgar Watson, the FUFA Chief Executive Officer (CEO) told journalists when the coach was being unveiled at FUFA House, Mengo on 30th September 2019.
McKinstry immediately got down to work having visited the National Council of Sports (NCS) and Airtel Uganda (national team main sponsors) officials.
He has since watched a couple of games in the Uganda Premier League as Proline’s 2-1 victory against Express at the Star Times Stadium, Lugogo and the goal-less night game when Sports Club Villa held last season’s runners’ up, Vipers SC at Mandela National Stadium, Namboole.
A UEFA Pro Licence holder, McKinstry replaces Frenchman Sebastien Desabre.
Desabre helped Uganda Cranes qualify for the 2019 AFCON finals in Egypt, where he qualified the team to the round of 16 before bowing out to finalists Senegal 1-0.
McKinstry will work alongside the interim coaches Abdallah Mubiru and Charles Livingstone Mbabazi.
On October 19th 2019, Uganda Cranes will host Burundi during the return leg of the CHAN 2020 Qualifiers in Kampala.
The first leg in Bujumbura ended 3-0 in favour of Uganda with goals from Vianney Ssekajugo, Muzamiru Mutyaba and Mustafa Kizza.
Six weeks later, he will handle the AFCON 2021 away qualifier against Burkina Faso in Ouagadougou, West Africa.
Johnathan McKinstry Bio Data:
- Date of Birth: 16th July, 1985
- Place of Birth: Lishurn, Northern Ireland
- Teams Managed: Sierra Leone National team (2013-2014), Rwanda National team (2015-2016), Kauno Zalgiris (Lithuania; 2017 – 2018), Siaf SC (Bangladesh; 2018-September 27th 2019)
- Coach of the Tournament: CECAFA 2015 Senior Challenge Cup
