25 March 2011
We will bring you live coverage of all the goals as they go in around the continent on both Saturday and Sunday!
– Guinea-Bissau v Uganda, 26 March, Bissau
– Kenya v Angola, 26 March, Nairobi
Uganda have finally managed to scrape the money together to travel to Guinea-Bissau for their 2012 Africa Cup of Nations Group J qualifier on Saturday.
Money troubles had put the fixture in jeopardy, but Uganda will now be able to consolidate their top position in the pool if they can beat an improved Guinea-Bissau side. The Cranes lead Group J with four points from two games, followed by their opponents on Saturday with three points, then the duo of Angola (three) and Kenya (one), who also meet on the same day in Nairobi.
Uganda have largely been able to assemble a full-strength squad, bar striker Brian Umony, who will not be joining the squad because of work permit problems in the USA. The team are assembling in Dakar, Senegal, before connecting to Guinea-Bissau later on.
Uganda do not have a great record in west Africa, something that goalkeeper Denis Onyango is aware of, but he says they are ready to turn over a new leaf.
We will do better this time. We have had time to review our past and hopefully will do better on Saturday. We know we cant afford mistakes again, Onyango said.
This will be the first-ever meeting between the two countries on the extreme east and west of the continent.
Kenya need to get their faltering campaign back on track after they were stunned 1-0 by Guinea-Bissau in their Group J opener last September. They followed that up with a 0-0 draw at home to Uganda, not a bad result, but will want to use homeground advantage to the fullest when they tackle Angola.
The Palancas Negras have also been less than impressive as they were blitzed 3-0 by Uganda in their opener, before scraping a 1-0 victory over Guinea-Bissau in October.
Kwnya had been offered the chance to take on Ghana in a warm-up match with the Black Stars also training in Nairobi, but coach Zedekiah Otieno refused, citing injury worries as a reason.
Angola forward Manucho admits his side need a good performance, and probably a win, to have any chance of topping the pool.
We are at a very tight position at the moment. But if we want to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations finals then we must top the table, he told portalangop.co.ao.
Meanwhile, new coach Lito Vidiga says the mindset of his players will be important.
We are returning to East Africa after winning our last match against Guinea Bissau in Luanda and after making history in Sudan, he said. Our approach will be the same: We shall go into this match with a strong mindset, being positive of victory.
The teams have only met twice before, in qualifying for the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations in Ghana. Kenya won 2-1 in Nairobi, while Angola triumphed 3-1 in Luanda.
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