Uganda Cranes coach Paul Put is not impressed by his team’s first-half performance against Botswana in their World Cup qualifier game that took place on Friday evening at Namboole.
In his post-match interview, the coach stated that although the players did well and got a crucial 1-0 victory over their Group G opponents, they didn’t create enough open chances to result in a goal in the first half.
“I think the boys did really well. We had a lot of ball possession in the first half, but we didn’t create enough open chances,” Paul Put said.
“In the last third of the pitch, we were not present enough. We also lost a lot of balls in the first half.” He further elaborated.
Put attributed this issue to the late arrival of some key players, like striker Fahad Bayo, to the national team camp, which, according to him, made it very complicated to work with them.
“But you have to understand that a lot of the players arrived at the camp in the last minute so it was very complicated to work with those players,” he stated.
However, the coach was pleased with the team’s second-half adjustments, which came after he made substitutions and eventually led to the game-winning goal.
“In the second half, I made some changes, and we applied more pressure on Botswana. I think we deserved this victory,” he said.
Uganda scored in the 74th minute courtesy of teamwork efforts from substitutes Bobosi Byaruhanga, Denis Omedi and Muhammad Shaban.
Bobosi passed a long ball to Denis Omedi, who sprinted and made the cutback to Shaban, who scored with a tap-in.
The Uganda Cranes will now look to build on this result as they prepare to host Algeria on Monday evening at the Namboole Stadium in their next World Cup qualifier.
