Uganda’s fourth-placed finish at the Africa Hockey Olympic Qualifiers held at the University of Pretoria, South Africa has been hard to explain because fans never watched their team win at all.
The Hockey Cranes earned a 5-0 winning start when Nigeria – a bigger economy and a regular at hockey tournaments – failed to turn up in time for the opener on October 29 and that was almost the end of joy for Uganda at the tournament.
But, first, Uganda had to celebrate for making it to this tournament for the first time since 2007. The last time this tournament happened was in 2019 in Stellenbosch – South Africa, the Hockey Cranes trained for two months and were disappointed when travel was cancelled in the last week over finances.
Backing last year’s trip to the Africa Cup in Ghana with this trip to Pretoria is a sign of confidence that the national team is back.
Uganda Hockey Association (UHA) had a choice to pull out when a delay in the visas meant that their Shs160m budget – funded up to the tune of Shs134m by the National Council of Sports – would grow by Shs11m but they pushed on.
While at it, the players’ welfare in terms of how they fed, where they slept, was way better than it was in Ghana.
Position and fair play award
In the end, the reward for showing up was a place in the semis. Uganda lost to Zimbabwe but needed to keep the score below 15-0 against South Africa to progress to the semis. So there was work to do.
Saying that a team that eventually lost that match 11-0 put their bodies on the line is hyperbole but they kept the score lower than what most expected – including the Nigerians who thought the hosts would bail them out.
The surprising part is that though Uganda lost four games on pitch and were under pressure for most of those 240 minutes, they were careful not to foul to stop their opponents and ended up with just one green and one yellow card given to Jordan Mpiima.
The discipline – even in matches against the continent’s top three; South Africa, Egypt and Ghana – earned the Cranes the fair play award.
Also, more people are getting attracted to the sport. Uganda Hockey visited the Uganda High Commission in Pretoria and got the chief of mission H.E Paul Amoru to watch the national team.
Amoru interested the Ugandan community in Pretoria in the team and one Phillip Kakuru actually awarded the team with 15,000 Rands (about Shs3m) for their fourth place finish.
Uganda had 12 players join Thomas Opio in having at least 10 caps for the country. Among those, Colline Batusa is top scorer with four goals in 10 caps from two tournaments. Opio, who played in 2007 before the current tournament management system (TMS) has three goals over the last two years.
The national team had less than three weeks of training and it showed in how coach Innocent Raskara tried to find solutions within his team.
Players can be praised for their versatility but it still affected the team. Timothy Ntumba is a goal threat from open play but was a left side centre back for the first two games then pushed to defensive midfield for the rest of the tournament.
He probably last played as a defender while still playing for Kampala Hockey Club in 2016.
Opio filled in well as a right-side defender but he has been top scorer in club hockey season after season.
Almost no change in structure
Uganda mostly relied on individual ‘brilliance’ to get results. The attack in the tough games was left to Batusa to weave his magic. Interestingly, the goals came when Uganda tried to push numbers forward.
In defence, Uganda insisted on a back three even after it had conceded 11 against South Africa. It went on to concede nine against Egypt and seven against Ghana.
But the backs left huge spaces between themselves and at this level, this is easily punishable
That the players lacked the fitness levels required to play in this competition even made matters worse and allowed opponents to easily widen and exploit those gaps. In fact, Uganda suffered a lot from the opponents’ quick starts.
While the Ugandans used every break in play as a moment to catch a breather, the opponents just upped the tempo in attack.
The physiotherapist Solomon Ogwal and doctor Emmanuel Ewochu were kept busy throughout the tournament. They left with major concerns too as goalkeeper Bosco Ochan was left nursing his knee after a drag flick ended up on his body during the semifinal with Egypt.
His counterpart Richard Kaijuka also took a shot to his head from Ghana’s Johnny Botsio in the third place playoff. Brian Okodi also returned home with his knee strapped.
Despite the position, it is still embarrassing that Uganda shipped in 29 goals from four games and scored just three on pitch. Those were seven goals more than those conceded at the Africa Cup last year with almost a similar squad. Uganda scored nine goals in Ghana. Add the five from the Nigeria walkover and Uganda still scored less in Pretoria.
In the end, Uganda’s ranking after the tournament shows no marked improvement but the players will have relished the challenge of playing against the continent’s top four and in harsh conditions too.
Uganda is still ranked ninth in Africa and 91st in the world. But after the win over Nigeria, they actually climbed up to 83rd on the FIH match-based ranking system.
But they immediately dropped back to 91st after losing to Zimbabwe.
The weather in Pretoria looked welcoming when Uganda touched on October 27 but it turned for worse on the morning of October 29 and kept that way until the end of the month – with temperatures falling down to six degrees Celsius at times.
Even the South Africans had to wrap their players on the bench in blankets – but this was something Uganda had not prepared for let alone knowing how to deal with it. Teams hardly hydrated too.
Such was the impact of the conditions that goalkeeping coach Kenneth Tamale still insists they lost to Zimbabwe on October 30 because of the biting cold.
On November 1, the warmth returned but the nights remained cold.
UHA had to make a choice between the men and women’s team given the limited funds. But with the Africa Games coming up in March next year, UHA are left without knowing the status of their women’s team.
Africa Hockey – Road to Paris 2024
Hockey Cranes – Tourney Ratings
Had brilliant saves at near posts but struggled with his far posts. Unfortunately got injured after coming on halftime against Egypt with Uganda 4-0 down
Started as part of a back three but struggled in a wing back role as the tournament progressed and was the only Ugandan player to serve cards
Also started as part of a back three too then moved into midfield. Kept his game basic and efficient
Covered a lot of ground when the defenders on his wide were drawn towards the ball
Ashraf Tumwesigye – 6.5/10
Confident with the ball and willing to take risks but struggled to reposition when he went to push the team forward
Emmanuel Baguma – 6.5/10
Happy to show his skills and keep the ball but had moments of indecision
Seemed to understand the wingback role well but was in and out of the team
Started well then dropped to the bench as Uganda needed defensive discipline for their last three games
Maxwell Mugisha – 6.5/10
A hard runner that left everything on pitch. Should have done more in possession
Two drag flicks for his goals that took him to four in 10 caps. Trusted to drive forward when Uganda had the ball but can be even deadlier if he adds passing to his repertoire
Dropped out of the first 11 after one game but returned in the last game. After over 10 caps, he needs to start banging in the goals. His last was in the Test Series in Nairobi in 2021.
Brilliant saves against South Africa and at the start against Egypt. Unfortunately also got hit and sustained a minor cut on his head against Ghana
Played himself back into the team as a left back. Got attracted towards the ball at times
Richard Ssemwogerere – 5.5/10
Had short appearances in midfield where he could not affect games
Also hardly had time on pitch to affect games
Filled in for the side defenders but only when they got tired
Taken as a striker but played mostly as a full back and was effective with getting the ball out of danger. He, however, gave away a stroke against Egypt
Mathias Akanyihayo – 6/10
The national team first timer played without pressure and was probably the only midfielder happy to tackle rather than let opponents lose the ball
5-0 win (walk over) against Nigeria
11-0 loss to South Africa
*Uganda progressed to semis on goal difference
Bronze match: 7-1 loss to Ghana
*Win vs. Nigeria gave Uganda 75.43 points in FIH rankings to rise to 84th place with 671.37 points
*But the four subsequent losses cost a combined 94.58 points drawing them back to 576.79 points
*Uganda therefore ended the tournament still ranked ninth in Africa and 91st in the world
