On September 3, 2016, the entire country erupted in joy when the national football team, the Uganda Cranes, broke a 39-year jinx by qualifying for the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon).
The tournament was played in Gabon earlier this year, and even though the team’s performance wasn’t remarkable, the satisfaction of seeing our boys on television and the national anthem being played was unmistakable.
With the euphoria out of the way, the long term challenge was always going to be whether this was a one-off or the return of Uganda to the club of Africa’s football elite, where it belonged in the 1960s and 70s.
On Sunday, June 11, the Uganda Cranes started the qualifiers for the next Africa Cup of Nations tournament to be held in Cameroon in 2019 in the best possible way. They won the game against Cape Verde, arguably the group’s toughest side, 1-0. Beating Cape Verde on home soil showed the team is up for a fight.
It must be said it’s only one game and, therefore, no need to get carried away. The away victory against Cape Verde will count for nothing if the Cranes slip up against the same team at home, or Tanzania or Lesotho, our other opponents in the group. Nevertheless, the omen is good. The national football federation (Fufa), the players and the supporters need to stay focused until the job is done.
The Cranes’ impressive start comes at a time Uganda’s football appears to be on the way up. At club level, KCCA Football Club has already achieved what no other Ugandan club did in the past by reaching the group stages of the Caf Confederations Cup.
Modern football is a game of many benefits that Uganda ought to tap. Besides uniting people like nothing else, it has economic benefits arising from promoting the country abroad and breeding billionaire footballers who would then invest in the country, as many West African countries have shown.
It is, therefore, imperative that all stakeholders, including the government, support the renaissance of the football game. Let the Gabon Afcon participation, the dream start of the Cranes’ new campaign in Praia, and KCCA FC’s lofty journey be the foundation for long-term football success that Ugandans have always craved.
