National Under-17 team, Cubs, head coach Brian Ssenyondo believes the burden of expectation has been lifted off his team as they prepare for Saturday’s round-of-32 clash against Senegal at the on-going Fifa U-17 World Cup in Qatar.
The Cubs reached this stage at the first time of asking after a 1-0 win over France lifted the team level on four points to seal progress as the third placed team in Group K.
‘Our primary target was to come out of the group stages. We have achieved it. So everything else is a bonus. We want to just enjoy the game and compete to see that we go through to the next stage. We want to see that we give ourselves a chance to go to the next stage,’ Ssenyondo said of the team’s progress.
With the primary target achieved, Ssenyondo could be right to expect an even better performance on Saturday against Senegal with the pressure lifted off his team.
Ssenyondo hinted about the high expectations getting to the players as he took captain’s the armband off Richard Okello and replaced him with Hamuza Sengooba after the first game against Canada.
‘It is the best experience every footballer at the age of 17,16,15 is looking for and it is totally awesome,’ Sengooba said of his experience playing at this stage.
The new captain has shown his versatility after moving from central defence to the right back position from where his marauding run set up Bogere for the winner against France.
Okello on the other hand remains an integral part of the team starting the subsequent games and was unlucky not to score against France with his low shot turned against the post by the goalkeeper.
Playmaker Isma Magala’s ability on the ball is also never in doubt although he has not hit the same dizzy heights he has made everyone get used to.
One player who seems to have not been affected by the stage is striker James Bogere who scored Uganda’s first ever goal at the competition in the 2-1 loss to Canada.
He then followed it up with the much-needed winner against France to further enhance his growing reputation.
He will come up against a strong Senegalese side that topped Group C with unbeaten record and is the only side yet to concede a goal at this tournament.