Bevis Mugabi was overlooked for the opening two games of the Fifa World Cup qualifiers in Qatar but believes Uganda has all it takes to qualify for the finals.
The Motherwell defender who will miss the games against Kenya and Mali says there is no need to ‘limit ourselves in goals and ambitions’ as a country.
“I don’t see why we shouldn’t be aiming to qualify,” said Mugabi in an interview with Fifa.com. “My view is that we shouldn’t limit ourselves in our goals and ambitions. And I don’t feel that going to the World Cup is unrealistic for us.
“With the young players we have coming through, I don’t see any reason why we can’t be in the picture to make it to Qatar.”
Mugabi was part of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations Cranes team that reached the last 16 of the competition in Egypt and says the team has had progress in recent years.
“The progression in the team has been great. Previously, qualifying for the African Cup of Nations was unheard of; now expectations are that we should be there. And we want to be at the World Cup too. I feel like that’s the next step for this team, and our next challenge to reach that level.”
Meanwhile, Mugabi believes Cristiano Ronaldo is the best player in the world and Farouk Miya is his favourite national teammate while he referred to Denis Onyango as Uganda’s greatest player ever.