There’s a possibility that Muhammad Shaban could be available for the game against Congo Brazzaville hence a boost to the Uganda Cranes.
Shaban suffered a knock on the eve of the game against South Africa and missed out on the thrilling 2-2 stalemate at Orlando Stadium on Friday.
However, the Al Hilal, Benghazi forward was involved in the last training session ahead of the contest against Congo and head coach Paul Joseph Put issued the latest on his situation.
“Shaban got injured in the last 15 minutes of the last training session in South Africa and wasn’t able to play and the doctors have been treating him,” Put told the media.
“Today (Sunday) he has trained with the rest of the team but largely doing individual drills during this light training session.”
“We shall see how he evolves, but if it’s a little bit of rupture, then it’s tricky,” the Belgian noted.
The Cranes will host Put’s former team at Mandela National Stadium, Namboole, on Monday evening, hoping to build on the point earned against South Africa for a victory back home.
“We’re playing at home, and it’s going to be a different approach, and all the players are aware, so we shall try to show our fans that we are indeed playing at home.”
“I know we conceded a late goal against South Africa, and we should have won the game, but how the entire game unfolded, I believe it was a huge point against a really strong team.”
“Let’s not focus too much on what we couldn’t afford against South Africa and look forward to the next game which I believe is also against a strong opponent,” the 68-year-old added.
Meanwhile, the Cranes have moved on from the result against South Africa and will go all out for victory against Congo, according to captain Khalid Aucho.
“It was painful to concede a late goal, but we also had our moments after starting poorly, and I believe we can only be grateful for a huge point we earned and focus on the next game.”
“It’s always thrilling to play in front of our fans, and I am sure they’ll be turning up in large numbers, and all we want to offer back to them is the three points,” the Young Africans midfielder stated.
Uganda and Congo are pooled in Group K alongside South Africa and South Sudan and Brazzaville lead proceedings with three points after edging the latter 1-0 at home on Thursday.
The Cranes and Stallions will be meeting for the sixth time, and the former has been dominant previously, winning three of the last five compared to the latter’s one win and a draw.
Congo have lost all their last three visits to Uganda conceding a total of eight goals and scoring only once.
