Hippos head coach Morley Byekwaso warned that the team can become the Total Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), Mauritania 2021 surprise package after hiking every step to progress to the semi-finals.
The CECAFA region champions will take on North African side Tunisia in the second semifinal tie at the Olympic Stadium in Nouakchott on Monday, looking to continue their dream run in the tournament.
They come up against a Tunisia side, eagerly plotting success of their own and a dream run in the tournament as well after dismissing Morocco on penalties in the quarters in Nouadhibou.
A tie between the two will be a battle of wit and mental strength with the Tunisians equally showing they could deal with tough games after their victory over Morocco.
Uganda’s movement and passing style of play has proved to work in all their matches and they will come up against an uncharacteristically physical and hardworking Tunisian team.
The Ugandan Hippos booked a placed in the last four after a 5-3 post-match penalties win over a tough Burkina Faso side at the Stade Cheikha Ould Bodiya, in a game that Byekwaso admitted they had to dig deep to progress.
Before that, they had won two games in the group stages, beating Mozambique and hosts Mauritania while their only loss in the competition so far was against Cameroon, a slim 1-0 margin.
They have netted four goals in open play and conceded twice in four matches while keeping two clean sheets.
The North Africans Tunisia went through from the group stages as one of the two best placed third spot finishers having lost their last group match against the Central Africa Republic. They had won one match in the group phase, a 2-0 win over Namibia.
They played Morocco in a highly charged North African derby in the quarter finals and emerged victorious via spot kicks.
In four matches, they have scored three goals and conceded two.
The match will be played at 10:30 pm Ugandan time.
In the other semifinal, Ghana and Gambia will face off. The two teams played against each other in the group stages where Gambia came from a goal down to beat the Black Satellites 2-1.
The final will be played on March 6, 2021.
