Photo: Joshua Kiprui Cheptegei” by Erik van Leeuwen (GNU FDL)
The recent 2018 Commonwealth Games on Australia’s Gold Coast proved to be Uganda’s best in terms of gold medals for almost 50 years.
All three Commonwealth champions were crowned in long-distance running, with Joshua Kiprui Cheptegei completing a remarkable men’s 5000m and 10000m double. Olympic Games and World Athletics Championships schedules give more than five days between the two finals and, with so many top athletes in this discipline hailing from Commonwealth countries, the Gold Coast triumphs for Cheptegei are far from minor honours.
There was also gold medal success for Uganda in the women’s 10000m courtesy of Stella Chesang, while teammate Mercyline Chelangat bagged bronze. A strong showing in the long-distance events was completed by Munyo Mutai with silver in the men’s marathon.
Athletics and boxing are traditionally the sports where Uganda excel, producing major championship winners down the years. Has football lagged behind then?
It’s true the Cranes, as the Ugandan national team are nicknamed, haven’t won a match at the Africa Cup of Nations for 40 years but have qualified just once in that time for the premier championship on the continent – the 2017 edition in Gabon.
Uganda did at least score at the AFCON finals last year, through Standard Liege-owned midfielder Farouk Miya. The Cranes also took the notable scalp of Egypt during World Cup qualifying, though that didn’t stop the Pharaohs reaching the finals this summer in Russia, where they are 6/4 chances to qualify from Group A in bet365’s latest football betting. Their pool also contains tournament hosts Russia, Saudi Arabia and two-time winners Uruguay.
Egypt are currently one of 15 African teams above Uganda in the FIFA World Rankings. They are in and around the top 75 countries in global football yet have never graced the grand stage. Just eight places in the rankings separate them from Russia, at present. Though, of course, as World Cup hosts, their position is skewed by not playing competitive football for a while.
Where the Cranes are strongest is at home. They’ve lost just once in Kampala since November 2016, winning five and drawing twice. Four clean sheets, including keeping out a certain PFA and FAW Player of the Year called Mohamed Salah, highlight how formidable Uganda are on the home turf of their national stadium – named after former South African president and anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela.
It would do the Cranes a disservice not to also mention they can get a result on the road. Uganda held subsequent World Cup qualifiers Senegal to a goalless friendly draw in Dakar last June.
Using the Commonwealth Games successes of individual athletes as inspiration, the national team look to have a favourable qualifying group for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations. Uganda play Cape Verde, Lesotho and Tanzania in their pool, which resumes in September with them top of the table, having already won their toughest away game on paper.
This feels like an emerging time for sport in Uganda; so, if the national team can reach consecutive AFCON finals in Cameroon next year and just get a win at this major tournament, they could make more headlines.