Overview:
Their road to WAFCON 2024 came to an end after a one-all draw against Algeria in the return match of the two-legged clash.
Uganda Women’s National Football team, Crested Cranes, will feel undone after failing to make a third appearance at the continental showpiece.
Their road to WAFCON 2024 came to an end after a one-all draw against Algeria in the return match of the two-legged clash.
Uganda had the task of overturning the 2-1 loss suffered earlier at FUFA Technical Centre, Njeru but fell trying to fight for their life.
It has been four months since the football governing body, FUFA, issued a call for applications to fill the position of head coach.
While several people expressed interest in the position, FUFA has failed to appoint someone, leaving Ayub Khalifa to patch things up as the stand-in coach.
On Friday, September 15, FUFA announced the appointment of Abdallah Mubiru as the new assistant coach to replace Khalifa, who was supposed to focus on the U-20 team.
However, FUFA announced a day later that Mubiru had declined the offer owing to personal reasons. All of this hullabaloo occurred just days before the game against Algeria.
This meant Khalifa was supposed to return and resume the assignment. However, the technical team shuffle brought Olive Mbekeka on board as the second assistant coach.
So after the elimination of Crested Cranes, Khalifa will have to finally return to the U-20 side which is preparing for the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.
Need to put the house in order
FUFA must swallow the unpleasant pill and select a permanent Crested Cranes head coach. He or she should be allowed to build a strong backroom staff in order to plan and move the country ahead.
With such empowerment then as a country, we can have the liberty of questioning and asking the technical team to account for the success and failure reached.
As the saying goes, ‘You cannot fatten a bull on the market day’, FUFA should learn from the previous sad moments after both senior teams failed to qualify for the continental stage.
It continues to show as a country how we plan for early returns and ignore laying long-term strategies that can yield lasting but positive fruits.