Power of the 12th man. Namboole was not full last night, with the northern end empty but the fans who turned up rallied behind the Cranes throughout the 90 minutes as the home team recorded a 2-0 win. Below are four talking points of the match.
Massa’s clinical mood Geoffrey Massa played like a man on a mission. Having been dropped for the away match to Ghana last week, he had a point to prove. The striker silenced his critics with two goals. The second goal was impressive. Massa smartly read and controlled Kizito Luwagga’s through pass before releasing a powerful shot past Vattara Naby Moussa into the right top corner. His movement left the Guinea defence stranded.
Onyango’s safe hands and big kicks Cranes’ goalkeeper Dennis Onyango’s long kicks to find Massa in the other half were telling. The team followed his lead as they tried to pick out Massa with long balls on the slippery surface. Onyango complimented his kicks with some crucial saves and parried or swept the ball away when he needed to.
Power black-out Perhaps, it didn’t come as a surprise to most Ugandans in the stadium but the eight-minute power blackout was an all-time low on a chilly night where everything seemed to go Uganda’s way.
Guinea’s trickery down the left flank Guinea’s Soumah Seydouba (shirt 25) was perhaps the only Syli player that didn’t deserve to be on the losing side as his wizardry and quick feet shone through. He battered Denis Guma and captain Andrew Mwesigwa all-night but his team struggled to find the cutting edge, despite their fluid passing, against a physically dominant Cranes backline.