Ugandan cranes shock stallions

Enterprising Ugandan Cranes striker Junior Yunus Sentamu scored a sparkling brace to galvanise his side to a stunning but deserved 2-1 win over Burkina Faso in a second Group B game at Athlone Stadium on Sunday.

In a tournament which is proving to have lots of surprises, the East Africans ran rings around their West African opponents and their 2-1 win was full value of their day’s efforts.

For a team which started the group as the weakest team in Group B, the Ugandan victory was a major upset of the competition which started on Saturday.

A moment of magic from Ugandan Cranes striker Sentamu in the 15th minute, in which he took on the opposition defence before rounding off the goalkeeper, was a goal worth watching over and over again. It will rank as an early contender for the goal of the tournament.

The setback galvanised the Burkinabe into action and started to mount wave after wave of attacks on the Ugandan goal area. However, they found Benjamin Ochan, in goals for the Cranes tough to beat.
Uganda on the other hand always looked threatening and in the 41st minute, captain Denis Iguma was sent clear but failed to beat Stallions goal-minder Mohamed Kabore on a one-on-one situation.
With Uganda running rings around the Africa Cup of Nations finalists, there was pandemonium in the West African backline just before halftime when there was an exchange of words between the goalkeeper and his porous-looking backline.

But with a minute to go to half-time, Burkina Faso almost found the equaliser but striker Bassirou Ouedraogo’s audacious lob went over the bar.

Much was expected from the Stallions but most of their play was characterised by hurried passes most of which went astray which resulted in them attempting long range efforts.

Uganda duly went further ahead when Yunus Sentamu finished off a beautiful build up from the right flank in the 73nd minute to complete an inventive brace of quality goals by Yunus Sentamu.

The Burkinabe replied immediately when Ouedraogo’s attempt went narrowly wide before finally scoring what proved a late consolation goal in the 88th minute through substitute Cyrille Bayala.

Both sides missed some clear-cut chances thereafter and despite a tense finish, the 2-1 scoreline was a true reflection of the proceedings.

Team starting line-ups:

Uganda: Benjamin Ochan, Isaac Muleme, Savio Kabugo, Denis Iguma (captain), Juuko Richard Kassaga, Julius Ntambi, Ivan Ntege, Vincent Kazizi, Hassan Mawanda Wasswa, Brian Majwega, Junior Yunus Sentamu

Burkina Faso: Mohamed Kabore, Issa Gouo, Issoufou Dayo, Mbah Kone, Saidou Simpore, Youssouf Kabore, Elisse To, Bassirou Ouedraogo, Aboubacar Traore, Aliasou Sanou, Francis Kabore

Confederation of African Football News