Recap
Niger made an honorable effort in the match against Tanzania and were defeat by 1-0. They conceded the only goal in the 69th minute after successive defensive mistakes, while until the end wasted good opportunities to leave at least with the point. The roster is limited and are predictably in last place in the group. They can’t compete at home and once again will be forced to move to Marrakech, Morocco. The French coach Jean-Michel Cavalli took with him 25 players, eleven of whom have played in recent games with the U23 national team. The most important absences due to injuries are those of the valuable striker Sosah (Kryvbas), winger Djibrilla (Rijeka) and midfielder Moumouni (Al Shorta). Uganda is currently third with 4 points, and need to beat Niger to have a chance of qualifying, while keeping their fingers crossed that Tanzania (currently 2nd) will lose in Algeria. Coach Milutin Sredojević have all foreigners integrated in the national team and best possible team at disposal.
The motivation for today’s match is essentially one-sided. Uganda realistically hopes to qualify if they get the win in neutral Morocco, since Algeria will logically beat Tanzania at the same time. Niger will fight as hard as they can, but they lack quality.