Mali coach Mohamed Magassouba blamed the Kitende astroturf for the result.
Magassouba said that the pitch was unfavorable, a thing that denied his team a huge win in a game against Uganda Cranes.
“The field did not allow us to play, it stopped us from playing our style,” stated the coach in a pre-match press conference.
“But it was a good match, Uganda gave us a big challenge and there are no longer small teams in Africa.
We missed plenty of our players mostly those who play in Italy and England because Uganda is a red list country (Covid19).”
Micho and the Cranes will return to action in October in double header against Rwanda – The first game will be played on October 6 in Kigali before the return leg in Kampala four days later.
Uganda Cranes played the best part of the second half with only ten men after defender Murushid Juuko was shown a straight red card.
Juuko elbowed Mali lanky striker Ibrahima Kone in the corner flag to receive marching orders from Mauritius referee Heeralall Ahmad.
Mali were dominant and will feel unlucky not to walk away with maximum points. However, they also failed to create open chances against a Uganda Cranes.
After two games, coach Micho is well aware of the huge work he has in his hands to turn the Cranes into a team he wants.
Unlike in his first tenure, Micho does not have a variety of experienced pool of players to choose from.
He returned at a time when senior players are walking out, and the lack of quality in depth has clearly shown in both matches.
Against Mali, Uganda could not even build from the back and the midfield was very porous while the two forwards of Derrick Nsibambi and Emmanuel Okwi were starved off supply.
