31 March 2025 | Uncategorized

Uganda Cubs suffered a devastating start with a 5-0 defeat to hosts Morocco in their opening game of the 2025 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) at Stade El Bachir in Mohammedia.

Uganda’s head coach, Brian Ssenyondo, acknowledged Morocco’s superiority while drawing confidence from his team’s improved second-half performance.

“Morocco deserved to win. It is not the result we wanted, of course. We prepared very well to try and match them today, but they are a very good team, and they showed that,” Ssenyondo stated.

“They wanted to kill the game early, and they did it very well. When a quality team like Morocco goes two up that early, you have to limit mistakes because every error will be punished,” he explained.

Despite the humbling defeat, Ssenyondo was pleased with Uganda’s second-half performance, where the team showed more fight and resilience.

“The second half performance, we go with that into the next game. The boys showed more passion, more character, and they fought for everything on the pitch. That’s the attitude we need moving forward.”

The focus now shifts to Tanzania, which they play on Tuesday, April 1st, and Ssenyondo believes will be highly competitive given the regional rivalry between the two sides.

“We have two games to go in the group stages, but we can’t look at the last one before we finish with Tanzania. It will be a very tough game because we are harsh rivals.

“We have learned a lot of lessons, especially from the first half. Maybe it was nerves; many of the boys were playing their first game at this level. But we now know what to correct before the Tanzania game.

“We didn’t expect this result, but we have to move forward. Morocco is a footballing nation, but we are an aspiring nation too. We want to be the best on and off the pitch. Now, our full focus is on Tanzania.”

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