By Ali Mutanje
Uganda lost their first match in group A, against 7 time champions Senegal 5-1 earlier on Sunday.
There was little time for recovery for the Sand Cranes. Uganda had to quickly learn from their mistakes and tackle Tanzania to have any chance of finishing in the top 2 in Group A.
After failing to beat Senegal, Uganda tussled it out with Taifa stars for the second spot to have any chance of making it for the World Cup in Russia in August, 2021.
Kawawulo Isma scored a brace for the Sand Cranes. Jarup Rajab Juma also countered with a brace of his own before Ssimbwa Saleh and Emmanuel Alex added to the goals to take Uganda’s goal tally to 4. Stephan Wallis scored the third goal for the Taifa Stars to take the final score 3-4 to the Ugandans. Tanzania face Senegal tomorrow in the last match of group A. Should they lose, they will be relegated from the tournament. This will leave Uganda and Senegal to the playoffs against teams from other groups to try and qualify for the World Cup.