Following a spirited but tough U17 Africa Cup of Nations warm-up encounter against Cameroon, Uganda U17 head coach Brian Ssenyondo remained optimistic despite his team’s 4-3 defeat in their final friendly ahead of the U17 AFCON tournament.
Speaking after the match, Ssenyondo acknowledged the strength of their West African opponents while highlighting the valuable lessons his team had learned from the experience.
“It was an important game, just like the previous friendly against Burkina Faso. Facing a strong, aggressive, and physically dominant team like Cameroon has given us another kind of test,” Ssenyondo noted.
“They are very aggressive, they run, they tackle, they head the ball with intensity. It’s a different challenge from what we faced in the last game.”
The Cubs found themselves trailing 3-0 at halftime, but they showed remarkable resilience in the second half, fighting back to make it 4-3 by full-time.
“Going into halftime 3-0 down and coming back to push the game to 4-3 proves that we can fight back,” Ssenyondo emphasized, praising his players’ determination.
Ssenyondo was candid about the areas that need improvement, especially after a lackluster first half where the team struggled to impose their style of play.
“The second half, I don’t think we played our football, we didn’t play at all in the first half,” he admitted.
“But in the second half, we came back strongly, and the boys put up a good performance.”
The coach believes these friendlies have provided crucial insights ahead of their AFCON campaign.
“Every opponent presents a new challenge. Burkina Faso tested us in one way, and Cameroon tested us differently. Now we know what to work on before our first game on Sunday.”
With their AFCON journey set to begin in just a few days, the Cubs now shift their focus to making the necessary adjustments. Ssenyondo remains confident that his team has the potential to rise to the occasion.
“We’ve identified key areas to improve, and I believe we will be ready,” he concluded.
Despite the back-to-back losses in friendlies, Uganda’s U17 team has shown resilience, adaptability, and the hunger to compete.
As they head into the AFCON tournament, the lessons learned from these tough encounters could be the key to unlocking their potential on the continental stage.
The U17 AFCON tournament will kickstart on March 30 and climax on April 19, 2025, and Cubs lie in Group A alongside hosts Morocco, Tanzania and Zambia, in a tournament that serves as a qualification pathway for the FIFA U17 World Cup in Qatar later this year.
