Hippos out to pile more misery on South Sudan

Hippos going through their paces at Lugogo recently. Uganda Hippos ran amok for a 5-1 victory against South Sudan in the first leg at Lugogo. PHOTO BY EDDIE CHICCO

Having put on a terrific show in the first leg, Uganda Hippos side will be brimming with confidence going into the return leg of the Africa Under 20 Cup of Nations with South Sudan, in Juba today.The Uganda Hippos won 5-1 and that lead is going to be too much for South Sudan to cope with. Coach Matia Lule’s side will be looking to ease through to the next round.The game will be played at the Juba Stadium which has been granted a three-year grace period to upgrade after last week’s ‘ban’.Uganda will miss defender Mustafa Kizza, who was sent off at Lugogo and any of Bashir Asiku and Robert Kitabarwa is the likely replacement. Herbert Achayi and Ivan Eyamu are the new faces on the team.

Not game overSouth Sudan coach Ahcene Ait Abdelmalek says the world’s youngest nation can still cause an upset. Trailing 5-1 from the first leg, the German- born Algerian coach told the media in Juba that his Bright Stars’ side should not be written off.“What matters is we are ready to face them and we will try upset them.”He blamed the massive loss on administrative lapses which saw him place a goal keeper in an outfield position.The team had fielded over aged players and ended up playing without any substitutes.The winner over the two legs will qualify to the penultimate round of the qualifiers, which will give birth to seven teams to join host Niger for the final tournament scheduled for February 2-17, 2019.

Africa U20 Cup of NationsSaturday, April 21South Sudan vs. Uganda, 4pm(Uganda lead 5-1 on aggregate)

Match officials:Referee: Georges Gatogato (BUR)1st assistant: Hervé Kakunze (BUR)2nd assistant: Gustave Baguma (BUR)

Complete U-20 fixtures Today (first leg scores in brackets)Morocco vs. Mauritania (0-2)Sierra Leone vs. Guinea Bissau ((0-1)Tunisia vs. Algeria (1-3)Rwanda vs. Kenya (1-1)Burundi vs. Ethiopia (2-0)South Sudan vs. Uganda (1-5)Mozambique vs. Seychelles (0-0)TomorrowTogo vs. Gabon (0-4)DR Congo vs. Tanzania (0-0)Swaziland vs. Malawi (0-0)Namibia vs. Botswana (0-0)

Saidi Keni (Goalkeeper), Paul Willa, B. Asiku, Geoffrey Wasswa, Musitafa Mujuzi; Abubaker Kasule, Julius Poloto (captain), Allan Okello; Steven Mukwala, Frank Tumwesigye and Joshua Okiror.