By Robert Kayindi James
Ugandans have patiently waited to see the Uganda Cranes reach the finals of the Africa Cup of Nations and that finally came to pass on Sunday evening with Standard Liege’s attacking midfielder, Farouk Miya being the heroic goal soccer.
On several occasions since 1978 when Uganda last featured at the continental tournament, the team came so close but always failed to get the job done. The story was however different on Sunday.
In front of a fully packed Mandela National Stadium, Namboole, at 5:00pm, Uganda Cranes kicked off their final Group D duel against Comoros in the 2017 AFCON qualifiers that ended 1-0 in favour of the host.
Uganda set the pace straight from kick off, getting over four corners in the opening twenty minutes of the game but all these efforts didn’t yield much.
In the 36th minute, Farouk Miya finally gave the Cranes a well-deserved lead when he roofed the ball in the back of the net following an assist from Moses Oloya. A few minutes later, Miya attempted to double the lead but his low range shot only hit the side-net just before halftime.
With a halftime lead, Uganda returned for the second half, a bit too confident hence conceded three corners in the opening ten minutes with a few other set pieces before Emannuel Okwi came on for William Kizito Luwagga.
Uganda finally managed to settle by the 70th minute and gained some momentum, creating a few chances which saw Comoros’ Abdou nearly tap the ball into the back of his own net.
Uganda continued to press but all efforts were still fruitless.
In the final two minutes of the game, Hassan Wasswa came on to replace captain Geoffrey Massa but barely touched the ball when the referee blew the final whistle, sending Ugandans into celebrations.
With Burkina Faso having beaten Botswana by 2-1 to top Group D with 13 points, Uganda finished in second place with similar points and qualified as one of the two best second-placed teams of the group stages.