SAN FRANCISCO, November 12, (THEWILL) – In a Group B, Round three AFCON qualifier, second-half substitute Halid Lwaliwa struck late to ensure Uganda picked up a lone goal win over South Sudan on Thursday at the St Mary’s Stadium, Kitende, Uganda.
The visitors appeared destined for what could have been their first point in the group stages. However, Lwaliwa’s 86th-minute goal denied them the point, making nothing of their strong performance against the hosts.
The Bright Stars surprisingly kept their Ugandan counterparts at bay for the entire first-half despite the fact that Irish coach of the Cranes Johnathan McKinstry deployed as strong a side as possible for the tie.
Peter Maker, Mutwaki Abdelkarim, Rehan Angier, and Omot Sebit looked more composed at the back and managed to deal with the persistent attacks of the hosts’ striking quartet of Farouk Miya, Kizito Luwaga, Emmanual Okwi and Derrick Nsibambi.
In the 12th minute, Angier infringed on Smouha SC’s Nsibambi just outside the box resulting in a free-kick. The Cranes’ Joseph Ochaya’s set-piece was cleared by the Bright Stars’ wall.
At the half-hour mark, McKinstry withdrew Okwi and his place was filled by youngster Allan Okello. The Paradou AC forward’s introduction added power and a sharper cutting edge to Uganda’s front line that wasted a number of open chances.
McKinstry’s decision to bring Lwaliwa into action paid handsomely as the Vipers SC captain netted the only goal that ended up separating the Cranes from the hard-fighting Bright Stars.
The narrow win means Uganda top Group B have seven points, are three points ahead of second-placed Burkina Faso (who have a game in hand) and have done their qualification for a third straight AFCON tournament a lot of good.
THEWILL believes the Ugandans are reaping the benefits of their schedule of matches. The Cranes did not play any friendly during the previous FIFA break. Instead, the team took to Dubai for a 10-day training camp.
On their part, South Sudan played former African champions Cameroon twice, drawing on both encounters.
As the Bright Stars of South Sudan continue to search for a maiden AFCON qualification, they can be consoled by the improvement in their performance especially how they largely neutralised the Cranes who rank 86 places ahead of them in the FIFA World Rankings.
The return leg will be played on Monday, November 16 at the Nyayo Stadium, Nairobi. It will present coach Ashu Cyprian with another opportunity to hunt for a first group point.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
