Cranes’ stand-in skipper for the trip to Lome, Geoffrey Massa, is defiant that Uganda will still win their remaining two games and qualify for next year’s Nations Cup in Morocco.
Uganda lost to Togo 1-0 on Wednesday, a result that dampened their qualification hopes. Serge Akakpo’s second-half goal at Stade de Kegue saw Uganda slide down to third in Group E standings with just four points from as many games.
Ghana, who beat Guinea 3-1, are top with eight while Togo are now second with six points. Coach Micho Sredojevic’s Cranes must now win their remaining two games and not care about results elsewhere if they are to qualify.
They host Ghana at Namboole on November 15 before finishing their qualifying campaign away to Guinea four days later – all must-wins.
Massa knows it is an enormous challenge but one that can successfully be taken on.
“I think we still have a chance,” he told supersport.com in Lome, Togo, adding, “We are going to play Ghana at home and we have to come all out.
“We lost here yes, but I think we bottled it in Kampala. But after the game here we spoke as players and we agreed that we have to go back to our clubs and work harder.
“It’s very tough because they (Ghana) have eight points, we have four… So if we win our two remaining games, we can still qualify. We now only have to focus on that Ghana game.
“I was very disappointed when I didn’t score against Togo but this home game against Ghana, I will do my best to score and help the team win. When we lose, we all suffer, so we must work harder for each other.
“When I go back to South Africa with my club I will make sure I work harder to be fresh for that game.”
Uganda are bidding to qualify for Afcon finals for the first time since 1978 when they were losing finalists to hosts Ghana.
