By BigEyeUg Team
Today, Thursday November 1, 2023 the Federation of Uganda Football Association (FUFA) has unveiled Belgian Paul Joseph Put as the new head coach for the national football team, Uganda Cranes.
In a press conference held at FUFA House Mengo, Kampala the FUFA President Hon. Moses Magogo, revealed that Mr. Paul Put emerged as the best for the Uganda national football team job out of the 150 candidates (2 locals) interviewed.
“FUFA rolled out an application process and we got over 150 coaches including 2 Ugandans who applied for the job. After thorough analysis, the FUFA Executive zeroed down on Mr. Paul Put and we believe he will do a good job,” Hon. Moses Magogo said.
Hon. Magogo also noted that its this time around that FUFA has okayed the new coach to recruit his own backroom staff from Belgium but with a few Ugandans as part of it.
“This time, we have allowed the coach to appoint his own backroom staff and he is coming with five other people from Belgium. However, there will be Ugandans who will work as part of the backroom staff,” he added.
In his first speech, Coach Put Paul Joseph requested Ugandans to give him more time and confidence for a better national team.
“Please give me time, give me confidence. You will see a different a national team,” Uganda Cranes Coach Put Paul Joseph said.
The Belgian international has been in Africa for a while, coaching national teams such as; Gambia, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Guinea, and Congo.
One of Put’s outstanding career moments was during the 2013 AFCON edition hosted in South Africa when he led the Burkinabe to the final, losing to Nigeria.
The 67-year-old’s immediate task stands to be the 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers.
Paul Put succeeds Serbian Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic who was sacked in September.
We will keep you posted