This is where we hold them…
This is where we fight…
This is where “they” die…
Remember this day men, for it will be yours for all time…
Give them nothing, but take from them everything…
This may not be war, and the Uganda Cranes are not the 300 Spartans, but after not reaching the Africa Cup of Nations proper in over 34 years, this may very well be coach Bobby Williamsons pre-match speech in the dressing room come Saturday 8th September 2012.
The wait has been long, hard and filled with so much heartbreak, narrowly missing out on the AFCON for the last two times due to numbers not adding up for the Cranes. This time it’s different. This time the equation is simple. Beat Zambia and qualify.
Easier said than done though!
In Zambia, they face the reigning and defending African Champions. Zambia has kept clean sheets in each of their last five home games. In sharp contrast, the Cranes have been leaking goals on their travels, shipping in eight goals in their last five away matches. This stat does bode well for the cranes.
That and the fact that the last time the Cranes visited Ndola, for an Olympics final qualifier, they lost 5-0.
But then again, history is just that, history. And if we were to take a look at more recent results, the Cranes will be buoyed. Zambia has only managed to win one of their last five matches.
They could be ring rusty, dreary, and with all things lining up, the Cranes could pull of the seemingly impossible, and deny the Chipolopolo the chance to defend their title. What a result that would be.
That being said, Coach Bobby Williamson will by no means get carried away by any of this. Neither will he let his troops. Complacency cannot be allowed be allowed anywhere near the camp.
Not this time. Not with the equation so simple.
They have a job to get done. A goalless draw, or a score draw would be brilliant. A result that would be deemed as a win, especially considering the opposition. Anything more will be a bonus, which will allow the Cranes to come and finish the job at the beloved Nambole, come the weekend of October-12-2012
All the stats have been read, analyzed and put across.
All team members have flown in from all over the world.
All the officials have arrived.
All the tickets have been sold out.
Everything is set…
Uganda Cranes we go…
WE GOOO!
