Uganda U20 Women’s National Team might have fallen to Nigeria in the semifinals but coach Sheryl Botes is walking with her head high given the performance the Queen Cranes have exhibited at the ongoing African Games in Ghana.
The Queen Cranes fell 2-0 to Nigeria’s in the semifinals played on Monday.
Coach Botes indicated she is proud of her charges and believes they have gained valuable experience in the games played so far.
“I am happy with the way we have played at the tournament and I can only be proud of the players for the performance in all the games,” she started.
“We have gained valuable experience from all teams we played against. Tanzania, Ethiopia, Ghana and Nigeria who are some of the best on the continent and I know the players will not be the same going forward.” She stated.
Coach Botes has made several experiments at the tournament including changing players from their natural positions.
For instance Phionah Nabulime and Krusum Namutebi who play in midfield at Kawempe Muslim Ladies FC have been used as make shift defenders.
Docus Lwalisa is a forward at Olila High School but has comfortably played at left back.
Uganda Martyrs Lubaga pair of Shamusa Najjuma and Latifah Nakasi have been the go to in the midfield yet at their club they play as winger and striker respectively.
The coach was however able to give an explaination about the her decisions indicating this was done right from onset.
“Modern football requires that a player can play in different positions and that is what I told the players. We are not just fixing things here at the tournament but rather we had the same arrangment in our training session from Kampala.” She revealed.
Uganda will now shift focus to Senegal who they face in the fight for bronze on March 21st 2024 at Cape Coast Stadium.