35th TotalEnergies AFCON (Group C):
- Saturday, 27th December 2025:
- Uganda Vs Tanzania (8:30 PM, East African Time)
- Al Medina Stadium, Rabat
For all sports disciplines, the bold transition from an upset to a positive result takes character.
Perhaps, this journey calls for planning, strategy, the right mentality and seldom sheer luck.
These are ingredients that the Uganda national football team (The Cranes) will need in the derby contest against Tanzania Taifa Stars on Saturday evening at the Al Medina Stadium in Rabat city, Morocco.
The two East African countries lock horns in a Group C clash at the 35th African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Morocco.
This is a duel that Uganda Cranes playmaker Allan Okello believes will not be like an ordinary match.
Okello, who features at Vipers Sports Club, addressed the media on the match eve at the main media center in Rabat, eyeing a far-much improved display from the 3-1 loss to Tunisia on Tuesday night.
“This will not be an easy match, being a derby. However, we plot to have a far better improved performance because we need to win the game if we are to realise our first target of qualifying from the group,” Okello, who was flanked by the head coach Joseph Paul Put, hinted.
“We did not start the way we needed but we have regrouped well, trained well and focusing for the next game. The game against Tunisia is now history. Both Uganda and Tanzania have realistic chances of progressing to the next stage,” he added.
Okello, a left-footed playmaker comfortable on either flank and as a number 10, spoke of the opportunity to play at his first African Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament.
“This is my first AFCON tournament, the biggest football tournament in Africa. It comes with pressure but a big opportunity to showcase my full potential as a player at the biggest stage,” Okello remarked.
Uganda Cranes head coach Put asserted that defender Elio Capradossi will miss the contest due to a back injury, and so is defender Timothy Awany, who picked up a knock in the last game for the game, also losing a close family member.
There are no fresh injury concerns in the Uganda Cranes camp, but Put is expected to ring changes to the team that started against Tunisia.
Since Uganda and Tanzania are neighbours ,we’re very eager and ready to watch the eastafrican derby of it’s kind in the tournament so the team who will the available chances effectively will crowned the winner.
Okello must start against the taifa stars if the cranes wants that creativity needed to win the game tonight