TotalEnergies AFCON U-20: The last tournament is history - Uganda coach Mayanja
Uganda coach Jackson Mayanja says they are keen on hitting the ground running when they open their campaign at the TotalEnergies U-20 Africa Cup of Nations on Monday.
The trainer added that the Hippos' brilliant run at the last edition of the tournament is in the past as he prepares to face the Central African Republic in Group B in Ismailia.
Uganda finished as runners-up two years ago in Mauritania and Mayanja is looking forward to getting started at the Suez Canal Stadium.
“It’s a privilege to be here with my team, qualified and we really deserved to be here and we’re well prepared, there’s nothing much to say, we're just waiting for the day tomorrow,” he said at his press conference.
“The last edition is history, and that team did well, and we have only two players in the team from 2021 team that’s the captain Mugulusi and Alpha, so this is a different team, but we hope that we have prepared we do the same, but this is a different environment and a new tournament.”
The Hippos have Isma Mugulusi as captain and he is one of two players in the current squad that played in Mauritania and his experience will be crucial for Mayanja’s team.
“He has a good experience of the competition and he performed at the last tournament and psychologically he can help the team because he is a good leader,” the former Cranes international said.
“My objective is to take this team to the World Cup and the other business into my business, but my business is to go to the World Cup if I can achieve that then we can see what happens next but my objective in this tournament is to qualify Uganda to the World Cup.”
Soft spoken captain Isma Mugulusi is confident they can have a good start when they face the Central African Republic who reached the quarter finals in Mauritania.
“We’re set, we have morals, and we hope we can perform better than the last competition. As you know it is different at international competitions because the tempo is higher than local competitions, but I can handle it and I can put it in with my teammates so that we can have a win whenever we need it,” the Makedonikos FC midfielder said.
Uganda will be one of the exciting teams to follow at the tournament in Egypt from 19 February to 11 March 2023 but believes it won’t be easy as they’re no more underdogs.
“It’s a motivation but it won’t be easy because last time teams were underrating us but now, they will see us as champions, so we must work a little bit harder.”