Flames ‘spy’ on Uganda

The Flames on Saturday spied on Uganda’s Cranes as they took on Sao Tome and Principe ahead of their friendly match tomorrow in Kampala.

Uganda beat Sao Tome and Principe 3-1 at Namboole Stadium.

Flames coach Ronny van Geneugden (RVG) said Uganda is a strong side which will give his side a stern test.

“I and the rest of the technical panel watched the game. They are quite a strong and physical team.

“They are not that technically sound and they thrive on long balls. So, we can plan on Tuesday’s game from what we saw last evening [Saturday],” he said.

RVG said after a two-legged trip which took them to Nairobi, Kenya, the team arrived in Kampala at around 4am on Saturday.

“After five hours of waiting for the connecting flight in Nairobi, it was quite a tiresome trip. So, we had to give the players a full day’s rest on Saturday.

“Today [yesterday], we trained in the morning. It was more about loosening up and a bit on tactical and technical aspects and we are training again later in the afternoon,” he said.

The Flames mentor said they are expecting to get the feel of the match venue later today ahead of tomorrow’s match.

RVG also said Mozambique-based forward Chawanangwa Kawonga was expected to join them later yesterday to complete the squad.

Both the Flames and Uganda are tuning up for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations’ qualifiers against Morocco and Tanzania, respectively in September.

According to one of Uganda’s daily, The New Vision, it was the first home win for coach Sebastien Desabre since he was hired three months ago.

Joseph Ochaya, Murushid Jjuuko and debutant Abraham Ndugwa scored a goal apiece for the Cranes while  Jose Varaela scored a consolation for Sao Tome and Principle. n