Uganda Cranes were offered a brilliant reality check in defeat to South Africa at Mandela National stadium, Namboole on Friday.
Thapo Morena and Patrick Maswangayi scored in the second half to hand Uganda their first defeat in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
The two nations came into the game on the back of sealing qualification for the 35th edition that will be held in Morocco next year after South Sudan defeated Congo Brazzaville but there was all to play for.
First, Uganda needed to win at home for the capacity crowd but there was also a small matter of topping the group.
For now, it is in the hands of Bafana Bafana who are on 11 points, one ahead of Uganda and they host South Sudan in the final game with the Cranes away to Congo.
“I think we (Cranes) have got away with it through the campaign and South Africa just found them out,” football journalist John Vianney Nsimbe said.
“We can say the Cranes have been performing well but somehow, they got results and on Friday, they were found out by a superior side just like it happened against Algeria in the World Cup qualifiers,” he added.
For Mike Sserumaga, a former Ugandan international, it was simple as South Africa were superior and deserved to win.
“The best team won on the day. They were comfortable on the ball, had experience and played with purpose unlike our boys who were timid,” said Sserumaga while on Ugandan Football TV.
“But it was a needed reality check for the team because it showed where we are as a team and need to work on a lot of things before, we go to Afcon because there are much better teams than South Africa that we are likely to face.”
With the Afcon finals a year away, former youth international Ayub Kisaliita believes a lot can change and warned that if players don’t up their game, they are likely to lose their places on the team.
“It was humiliating that the players couldn’t even manage to string 2-3 passes together,” said Kisaliita. “There was no fight, no urgency and the players couldn’t fight for each other and or respect the badge,” he added.
“They look assured with no competition for places but the South African game has shown the coaches that they can still look elsewhere for players before we go to Afcon because from the current squad, not more than six players look ready.”
Truth be told, a lot of first timers have been fantastic in this campaign but against superior opponents, they lacked quality.
Fight and desire got The Cranes the ticket to Morocco but none of that was on show against the Bafana Bafana but again, top level sport is brutal.
Sometimes, the opposition is better than you. All The Cranes need now is to step back, be humble, regroup and go again. Bafana Bafana were the better team on Friday by far and Uganda is bound to meet such quality at Afcon in Morocco.
How they use lessons picked from the humbling defeat is vital but with World Cup qualifiers coming next year before the Afcon finals, a lot can be rectified.
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