Uganda Cranes head coach Paul Put says the door remains open for every deserving player on the national team no matter where he plays his football.
There has been a concern over the chances of the local based players more so after the addition of eight new lads of Ugandan heritage in the current international window.
Nathan Asiimwe and Noble Okello made their debut against Tunisia last week while Abdoulaye Sissako, Arnold Vula, David Akpan Udoh, Dieudonne Gaucho Debohi, Souleymane Diaby, Kingdom Osayi and Kelvin Owusu Boateng are in line to face Libya after joining the training camp on Sunday.
“Since I came to Uganda, I have given them a lot of chances. And they have appreciated me,” Put told Kawowo Sports. “They are part of us, they are in camp, and will improve. Automatically if you are training with good players around you, they will automatically improve you, you will become better. This is good for their development due to who is surrounding them. We will continue to work with them,” he added.
“We have to believe in them, they are talented. We had about 14, but every season we have about five or four who move out, and that makes my work difficult cos you have to look for replacements, we had Ssemakula, Travis, Okello etc. move abroad. It is a good sign, if they were not good, they wouldn’t have transferred. I will give them the confidence.”
The Belgian also quashed fears over the local players being threatened especially with the FA now focusing on luring players of Ugandan heritage to play for the national teams saying they should instead brace themselves for competition.
“If the players (local) are scared, then they are not worth being National team players, we need players with guts, who are ready for competition.”
On the new faces, the former Burkina Faso head coach said they looked at players playing at top level to improve the team especially after abysmal performance at the Africa Cup of Nations where Uganda lost all but drew one game.
“We brought on players with maturity and experience, those who have experience with UCL and UEL and literally same level with continent’s best although not there yet,” he explained.
On whether Ugandans should expect to see their new boys against Libya on Tuesday, Put remained tightlipped but called for patience with them insisting cohesion takes some time.
“We have to be patient with them; they have been here for two days so integration is always important. Cohesion takes time.
“We have two friendlies in South Africa against DR Congo; we can try things out. Positivity between old and new ones. Let’s wait till tomorrow and everyone will know who is going to play.”
On naysayers who think the move to naturalize players could affect the domestic league (Uganda Premier League) growth, Put disagreed citing an example of Morocco who uses over 99% of players born out of their territory on the national team but has arguably the best league in Africa.
“Morocco has not one player in their squad born at home, and it’s done elsewhere. It’s not even easy to get the players because they are approached by other Nations.”
Uganda are co-hosts with Tanzania and Kenya for AFCON Pamoja 2027 but have so far done well in Group H and will move top with a victory over Libya following a 2-2 draw between Tunisia and Botswana in the other game.
