Eden Kironde
6 September 2007
Entebbe — To the Niger team, the Nations Cup tie against Uganda is nothing more than a friendly affair.
This was the reflection of Niger coach Haney Amadou as his troops touched down at Entebbe for arguably Uganda Cranes' most important game in over a decade.
The tie dubbed as a must-win, crunch tie, determinant and all other names to signify its importance was referred to as simply another game by Amadou to whom the fixture is a mere ceremonial affair respected in order to avert the wrath of CAF.
"This is like a friendly game to us," Amadou said perhaps oblivious of the arithmetic which Cranes has to manoeuver before booking a ticket to Ghana.
"We have not had any special training for this game any friendly games at all," he added.
Uganda faces stiff competition for the remaining two slots to the Africa Nations Cup from Benin, Eritrea, Algeria, Zambia, Burundi and Tanzania who are also awaiting the last batch of qualifiers to ascertain their fate. Amadou, however, holds no hard feelings against Uganda and wished Laszlo Csaba's troops well. "I heard that Uganda had a friendly with Tanzania and they lost 0-1. I think that was good for them," said Amadou sounding a bit cruel.
But he clarified; "This will help them to play harder against us and may be qualify. I will be happy if Uganda qualifies for the Nations Cup. Don't be afraid."
Uganda v Niger
Saturday
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