In the aftermath of Uganda Cranes’ humiliating 1-3 loss to Nigeria Super Eagles at the Fes stadium, Uganda Cranes head coach Joseph Paul Put labeled the game as very difficult.
“It was a very difficult match” the Belgian stated. “We gave away easy goals.” He hinted.
Uganda Cranes finished the game with 10-men following a sending off for goalkeeper Salim Omar Magoola who had replaced the injured Denis Onyango, the team captain, at half-time.
The technical bench was forced to pull off holding midfielder Baba Alhassan and introduced the third choice goalkeeper Alionzi Legason Nafian.
“Because of circumstances, we fielded three goalkeepers in one match. This really affected us. I believe the read card (to Jamal) was due to the heat of the game.” The former Burkina Faso head coach added.
Put also pointed to the physicality of the Nigerians as key lead to the dominance by the West Africans.
“The physical impact was the difference. There was an outright difference in quality. We were under a lot of pressure. We clearly lacked experience and maturity” he pointed out.
The positives:
Put who replaced Milutin “Micho” Sredjovic pointed out bold positives from the championship.
“The AFCON 2025 is a good preparatory platform for the future. I saw the fighting spirit from all the players. We only lost qualification (to round of 16) after failure to beat Tanzania” Put cited.
Going forward, Put strongly asserts that the players ought to play in their respective clubs regularly to attain the crucial playing time and also get more players exported to the different professional leagues in Europe, Asia, Africa and elsewhere.
Macedonia based Rogers Mato scored a late consolation for Uganda Cranes against Nigeria Super Eagles for Uganda’s third goal at the championship.
Denis Omedi and Karl Anthony Ucheckhuwku Mubiru Ikpeazu were the other scorers for the CECAFA zone representatives.
Uganda Cranes players and officials depart Morocco on Thursday, 1st January 2026.
