Yasser Kalyango and Douglas Bugingo
6 October 2008
Kampala — Uganda Cranes chances of qualifying for the next stage got timely boost with news that Angolan coach Oliveria Goncalves had called it quits. His deputy, Maby de Almeida will act as a temporarily replacement until a permanent successor is found.
The Cranes need a victory with a big margin against Benin's Squirrels on Sunday, October 12 to advance to the next stage. Gonclaves resigned as coach on Saturday following a series of poor results that saw his team fail to overcome Uganda in 180 minutes and a 2-3 loss to Benin in Cotonou last month.
"I presented in my resignation letter on September 22 and the president of the federation (Angola Football Associations) accepted it," said Gonclaves. Uganda beat Angola 3-1 at Namboole and held the Black Antelopes to a goalless draw in Luanda.
Goncalves was until recently regarded as a hero in Angola for taking the Palancas Negra to their first ever World Cup finals in 2006 which earned him a contract renewal until 2010.
He also acknowledged that ill feeling towards him from the federation is one of the reasons he decided to step aside. "I saw that some things were not okay anymore," he said.
Meanwhile, goalkeeper Posnet Omwony has comforted Ugandans that he will be a suitable replacement for suspended first choice custodian Dennis Onyango. "There has been a lot of negative information about me from the soccer fraternity. However, I do not mind what ever has been said in the past, my focus is to put up a better performance that will amuse everyone," said Omwony.
Omwony who features for Black Leopards, jets in today alongside two other South Africa based players Geoffrey Sserunkuuma and Timothy Batabaire.
OCTOBER 12
Uganda v Benin
Angola v Niger
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