Uganda beat visiting Mauritania 2-0 in an exciting AFCON 2015 fixture in Kampala, Brian Majwega and Geoffrey Massa the heroes on a Saturday afternoon that ensured the Cranes took a giant step towards the group phase of qualification and remained on course to ending their 36 year absence from the Nations Cup.
The Cranes showed their early intentions as they dominated opening exchanges but Mauritania remained composed thwarting all attempts by the hosts who were under pressure to perform before an expectant sell-out home crowd. The visitors, who replaced disqualified Equatorial Guinea were good value for their first half which ended goalless.
Brian Majwega broke the deadlock 4 minutes on resumption of the second half before Massa put the icing on the cake with a sublime finish in the 69th minute.
Cranes keeper South African based Denis Onyango had an easy day in the office as he was rarely tested as the Cranes defence thwarted all Mauritania attempts centered around Khalil Ahmed who attempted a number of runs at the Uganda back-line.
Inspirational left-back Godfrey Walusimbi who plies his trade for Gor Mahia in the Kenyan premier league was in a class of his own as he commanded the left flank with superb authority one of which assisted Massa with the second goal.
Captain Andrew Mwesigwa who had a slow start to the game quickly established himself and played a key role launching the Cranes forward.
Youthful Farouq Miya of Vipers was handed his debut by coach Micho and did not dissapoint as he showed flashes of why he was highly rated.
Mauritania will need a massive fight back to upstage Uganda at home in a fortnight when the two sides meet for the second leg.
Confederation of African Football (CAF) News
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