Cranes coach, Paul Put has not hidden his desire to have more players plying their trade in more professional leagues, particularly in Europe, turning out for the national team.
The unwritten rule is that Uganda would become more competitive against the giants of African football if it had more players overseas. It goes without saying that nations like Ghana, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Nigeria, among others, have become the giants of the continent on the back of that.
However, for Put’s case, more often than not, his saving grace has come from players in the Uganda Premier League. The latest being Allan Okello, whose free-kick ensured The Cranes beat Guinea 1-0 last week in the 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers.
Maybe, it is about time Put realizes that concentrating on the local talent is realistically what he has. Throughout the 2025 Africa Cup qualifiers, save for defenders Bevis Mugabi and Aziz Kayondo, who scored against South Sudan and Congo-Brazzaville respectively, the rest of Cranes goals came from UPL talent.
Needless to say, Kayondo became Uganda’s first choice left-back while still at Vipers SC in 2021. In addition, Dennis Omedi, who played for Kitara FC recently, and his teammate there, Jude Ssemugabi, have become mainstays in The Cranes because of their goal contributions.
Omedi scored twice while Ssemugabi scored once, but had two contributions, both against South Sudan. In the recent Afcon qualifiers, of all the eight goals Cranes scored to qualify for the 2025 Afcon, six involved UPL players, either with an assist or the finishing touch.
Unfortunately, even with facts on the table, little credit has been given to the local coaches. Instead, they are not rated, and are quietly accused of producing poor players, that do not fit Put’s needs.
But NEC FC coach, Hussein Mbalangu dismissed notions that disregard them, saying that when KCCA FC beat the traditional North African teams, former coach Mike Mutebi was Ugandan and he used home boys.
Mbalangu noted that all local players are crying for is trust in them and they will perform like Okello. For what it is worth, by extension, the leagues of Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya and Ethiopia are also local leagues and talents there deserve a chance.
jovi@observer.ug
The argument that local players contributed on a team full of local players does not make sense.
However, the article has a good point. This is a team sport where average players working as a team can win championships.
National team players spend little time together especially if they don’t qualify for major tournaments like AFCON or the World Cup. So you’ve got to be innovative in finding solutions.
If I were a Crane’s coach, I would pick my spine from a group of players who’ve been to “war” together (youth teams, clubs, or Cranes) and supplement as needed. The more local players, the better because they are easier to track and get together for practice. You can work with local clubs to sharpen players. If lucky, you can select a cohesive unit of players (e.g. defenders or midfielders) who play together all year round from one club and have chemistry. It could also be as simple as set-pieces They do have to meet a minimum set of standards. Hugo Broos is doing this in S. Africa. Egyptians did this to dominate CAF. These players will eventually go abroad but will still have some chemistry when they get together for the Cranes. At that point, I would then select an established team of foreign based players.
Foreign players bring a lot to the table. Outside knowledge and ideas from all over the world. They break local monocultures. We should just be careful not to be biased and weigh each, on a case by case basis.
To their credit, FUFA revamped local coaching. So they should be reaping what they sowed. You do have to expose UG coaches and referees too.
Again, it boils down to FUFA.
FUFA have been around long enough to learn what it takes to build a team, run a successful qualification campaign and win a tournament.