Ghana school Uganda in art of tournament football

One wait is over but another continues. Uganda played their first game at the Africa Cup of Nations in 39 years on Tuesday in Port-Gentil. They lost 1-0 to Ghana and must search for their first points at the finals on 21 January against Egypt.

Uganda coach Milutin Sredojevic said his side had to learn quickly from the 1-0 loss against Ghana at the Africa Cup of Nations. AFP/Nezar Balout

They weren’t outclassed but just faltered momentarily in the glare of attention. Isaac Isinde failed to control a pass in the box after half an hour, Asamoah Gyan pounced on the lapse and the defender hauled him down. Elementary mistake. Simply punished.

André Ayew sent Denis Onyango the wrong way from the resulting spot kick. Faruku Miya had a chance to level two minutes before the pause but his shot flashed just wide of Brimah Razak’s goal.

From then onwards it was catch up. And Ghana played their advantage cutely, slowing the pace down to torment the competition ingenus. Uganda coach Milutin Sredojević went for broke. “Ghana were absorbing the pressure,” the Serb reflected. “I threw five strikers on. I risked everything but it did not go our way but I am proud of the team and the effort.”

His Ghana counterpart, Avram Grant, oozed the tournament nous that Sredojevic and his players hanker. “I’m happy with the three points," said Grant. "The result is the most important thing. It was a difficult pitch. The ball jumped up and didn’t really help our style of one touch football. Uganda are a tough team and I was happy to defend the three points at the end of the game.”

The closing stages should have been more comfortable though for Ghana. Christian Atsu, deemed man-of-the match, was through on goal but Onyango saved the shot to keep his side within sight of an equaliser.

“We did our best to get a result against the 2015 finalists,” added Sredojevic. “We showed we can play against the best. But it’s a learning curve for us. We’ve seen what happens if you make the slightest mistake. We’ve seen our shortcomings. We’ll be looking for our best against Egypt and Mali.”