Uganda Cranes failed to advance beyond the group stage of the Total African Nations Championship (CHAN) for the fifth outing running after needlessly falling 5-2 to tournament defending champions Morocco on Tuesday. 26th. January. 2021 at the Stade de la Reunification, Douala, Cameroon.

The Cranes finish on bottom of the group with only one point out of three games behind Morocco (7), Rwanda (5) and Togo (3).

Uganda Cranes opened their campaign with a goalless draw with Rwanda which was followed by a 2-1 defeat to Togo.

However Cranes Head on assessing his team’s performance at the tournament said that even with the poor show, he believes the players have learnt a lot.

“We were pleased with the progress of the players and they have learnt a lot,” McKinstry noted while speaking to the media after the defeat to Morocco.

“They have gained experience and will be better for the future. They now know that when you get to such tournaments, you have to take your chance,” he said.

About the team’s preparation a head of CHAN, McKinstry said that they had the best build-up to the tournament and he was so grateful to FUFA for supporting the team.

“We cannot complain about preparation,” McKinstry said.

“When we set out for this project, we made certain requests to the federation in terms of how we can prepare the team. I think we got 90% of what we asked for which is very good.  To be honest that was pleasing,” he noted.

Past Cranes’ CHAN appearances and performance:

Sudan 2011: Group A: Uganda, Sudan, Gabon and Algeria

Under British Born Coach Robert Williamson, the Cranes lost all the three games against Algeria (2-0), Sudan (1-0) and Gabon (2-1).

South Africa 2014: Group B: Uganda, Morocco, Zimbabwe and Burkina Faso.

Under Coach Milutin ‘Micho’ Sedrojevic, the Cranes won 2-1 against Burkina Faso 1-2 Uganda Yunus Sentamu 15’ 73’; drew 0-0 with Zimbwabw 0-0 Uganda and lost 3-1 to Morocco. Sentamu scoring the only goal in that game in the 59 minute.

Rwanda 2016: Group D: Uganda, Mali, Zimbabwe and Zambia.

Under Coach Milutin ‘Micho’ Sedrojevic, the Cranes put up a poor show; failing to win a game. They drew 2-2 with Mali (Joseph Ochaya 11’ and Faruk Miya 40 minute penalty); 1-1 with Zimbwabwe (Geoffrey Sserunkuma 90+3) and lost 1-0 to Zambia.

Morocco 2018: Group B: Uganda, Cote D’Ivoire, Zambia and Namibia.

Under Coach Sebastien Desabre, the Cranes drew 0-0 with Cote D’Ivoire and lost 3-1 to Zambia (Derrick Nsibambi 40’) and 1-0 to Namibia.

Cameroon 2020: Group C: Uganda, Morocco, Rwanda, Togo.

Under Coach Jonathan McKinstry, the Cranes drew 0-0 with Rwanda and lost two games; 2-1 to Togo (Saidi Kyenune) and 5-2 to Morocco (Ibrahim Orit 25’ and Saidi Kyenune 84’).

Story written by Joseph Mary Ssempiira