Uganda Cranes coach Milutin Sredojevic has sounded a warning to Algeria when the two sides face off in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying fixture at Japoma Stadium in Douala Cameroon on Sunday.
The Cranes have been camping in Cameroon ahead of the must-win contest and on Wednesday they played a friendly against DR Congo, who are handled by former Uganda coach Sebastian Desabre, but suffered a 1-0 defeat.
Despite the defeat, Sredojevic believes the outcome of the game gave his team some blessings as they will know their weaknesses and work on them before taking on Algeria in their fifth fixture of Group F.
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“I always like to say, in these games, there is some blessing. It is better to happen today than on Sunday. Now we have critical points to touch on in the analysis of this match. Today we have tried, tested, and experimented but Sunday we are going directly into the competition. There is no forgiveness,” Sredojevic said as quoted by Fufa’s official website.
“I know we are carrying on our shoulders so much expectations. I want to take all the pressure away from players. I want them to come and show what they are capable of because we are playing an early final of the African Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast against a top-class team, Algeria on Sunday.”
The Serbian tactician added: “There is no better chance than this match to show what is the real character and value of this team despite the fact that we are having several young players than ever in recent history of Uganda Cranes.
“After 2006, we have always been candidates up to the last match to qualify and that is a standard we are keeping no matter that we are a team in transition with so many young players. But young players have the greatest chance to go from boys to men with the support of a few senior players so that together we cross that line and we qualify for Afcon.”
However, Uganda will miss the services of Joseph Ochaya and Gavin Kizito, who picked nasty injuries against Congo and have already been released from camp to join their respective teams for assessment.