Uganda Cranes Head Coach Sebastien Desabre has termed Uganda’s last 2019 Afcon qualifier game against Tanzania Taifa Stars as a ‘do or die’ affair.
Desabre addressed the media during the official press conference at the Star Times Stadium, Lugogo in Kampala on the third day of the team’s non-residential training.
“We need to finish the AFCON 2019 qualification on a strong note and finish very well in Tanzania. We are going for maximum points. It is a good opportunity to play in Tanzania. Tanzania will be under pressure, stadium will be full.” Desabre said
The Frenchman also added that the preparations are part of the CHAN 2020 qualifiers.
“We have two targets at the same time. AFCON last group qualifier and the CHAN 2020 Preparation. We have so far trained for three days. On Saturday, we have a trial match against Kampala Select. After Saturday, the team will travel to Ismaily in Egypt for training camp.
“I thank the Federation led by Eng. Moses Magogo for the training camp opportunity where the players will get together as I continue to monitor them. This is also early preparations for the Uganda Cranes team well ahead of AFCON 2019 tournament.” Desabre noted.
He also said that Cranes plan for a friendly with a league one club while in their camp in Egypt.
“This will also be a moment for me to assess new players on the team with Christzom Ntambi, Shaban Muhammad, Robert Odongkara and others. We plan a friendly match against a league one club next Wednesday in Egypt’ Sebastien Desabre noted.” He concluded.
After the Uganda Cranes play a test match against Kampala regional select, 9 locally-based players will be selected to join the 15 foreign-based players in Egypt for the training camp from 18th to 22nd March.
Uganda is among the fourteen nations to have already secured a place at the 2019 Afcon in Egypt while Tanzania will need to win and hope Lesotho falter against Cape Verde in the other Group L stage match.