The Uganda Cranes Head Coach. Milutin Sredojević (Micho) is counting on the depth of his squad to overcome Uzbekistan in the final of the 2022 Navruz Cup scheduled for later this evening at Navbahor stadium. Uganda Cranes ejected Tajikistan 5-4 on penalties following a one-all-draw in the normal time in the semifinals of the tournament.
This was the Uganda Cranes first game of the four-team event. Micho’s side will now face hosts Uzbekistan, which equally eliminated Kyrgyzstan in the other semi-final that was played last week. Uganda Cranes will enter the clash without experienced midfielder Khalid Aucho and custodian Charles Lukwago who saved two penalties in the semi-final shootouts.
Charles Lukwago left the national team camp to join his club in Ethiopia while Aucho will be out due to injury. However, Micho is confident the depth of his squad will give him more options in the absence of the two pivotal players. Micho explained that he already has two backup players in the goal, KCCA’s Benjamin Ochan and URA’s Alionzi Nefarian.
“With Charles Lukwago gone, we have Benjamin Ochan and Alionze Nafian to keep our goal. Khalid Aucho is out of the game we don’t want to risk because he is a proven player. We want to check all our players, in the first match several players played a full match. Every single player that has come to this tournament has a mirage in the league,” Micho said.
Adding that “For each position, we have two players competing which help to build the team not. This is an investment not only in the match, but this an investment to go beyond to June when we start 2023 African cup of nations qualifiers.”
He explained that they are aware of the challenge paused by Uzbekistan because of their top players noting that this will provide a competitive environment for the Cranes players and expose them to world-class players.
“We have the highest respect for the highly-rated team of the opponent whose market value is over 50 million Euro because it has players from Roma, from big clubs in the Middle East and when you are looking at that aspect is a huge test of character for our players against a very good team coached by a top-class coach, this is a chance for our boys to turn into men,” Micho said.
He believes that their participation in the mini-tournament will help the technical bench assess their squad before kicking off the 2023 African Cup of Nations- AFCON qualifiers.
