Arnold Odong says he’s proud to have scored on his debut for the Uganda Cranes and believes the 3-nation tournament in Tanzania was the perfect test ahead of the 2024 CHAN finals.
The midfielder opened the scoring in Uganda’s 2-1 win over Senegal on Thursday at Black Rhino Academy Stadium, a result that helped the Cranes close the tournament on a high after an earlier loss to Tanzania.
“We came ready and prepared,” Odong said after the match. “We wanted to identify areas for improvement, and we worked on them and we still do. The competition is stiff and everyone wants to earn the coaches’ trust to make it to the starting lineup.”
Reflecting on his first senior national team call-up, he added, “It’s an honour to play for the Uganda Cranes for the first time, and I’m happy I scored on my debut. I’m looking forward to being consistent.”
He acknowledged the team still has work to do but remains hopeful. “We’ve learned a lot. Even though we lost to Tanzania, we corrected our mistakes and showed our quality against Senegal. We’ll keep improving and we want to make the most of CHAN 2024.”
Odong’s 64th-minute goal was followed three minutes later by a Patrick Jonah Kakande penalty after Jude Semugabi was fouled. Senegal pulled one back late on through S.M. Koite, but the Cranes held on for the win.
Uganda returns home to continue preparations for their CHAN opener against Algeria on August 4.
