The hurdle that Uganda’s U-20 women’s national football team faces in a bid to make history when they face Ghana Princesses in the second leg of the FIFA World Cup qualifier is a daunting one.
Uganda trails 2-1 on aggregate after losing the first leg at St Mary’s Stadium two weeks ago, but coach Ayub Khalifa believes his side is not down and out.
“We have been working on the scoring as it was our main problem in the first leg. The players have been showing the urge to recover from the loss and we shall do the needful by scoring the two goals that we need to progress,” Khalifa said before departure.
The team has played only one build-up game―against their seniors the Crested Cranes and lost 1-0 courtesy of an 81st minute strike by diminutive attacking midfielder Resty Kobusobozi.
However, Khalifa believes that cannot be the yardstick to rule out a possible turn-around result in Ghana.
Cyprus based striker Juliet Nalukenge who missed the first leg due to health issues is back and travelled with the team and with team captain Fauzia Najjemba and defender Aisha Nantongo having recovered from the knocks they suffered in the first leg that saw Uganda finish the game with 9 players at Kitende, Khalifa has a full squad at his disposal.
The team of 20 players, coaches and officials that departed in the wee hours of Thursday morning, arrived safely in the southern Cape Coast.
The game will be played at Cape Coast Sports Stadium on Saturday at 6:00 pm EAT.
Original story on New Vision