By Kampala Sun writer
A late consolation goal for Uganda Cranes did little to salvage their hopes as they a 2-1 defeat to Algeria in the penultimate round of the 2023 TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers.
In the game played on Sunday at Japoma Stadium, Douala, Cameroon, the desert Foxes carried the day with a 2-1 win.
Mohamed Amoura scored a brace for Algeria while Uganda’s goal came from second half substitute Fahad Bayo.
The first half saw Uganda Cranes put up a resilient performance and marched the visitors for long spells.
However, with three minutes to the break, Algeria broke the deadlock with Amoura tapping from close range after goalkeeper Salim Magoola spilled the ball from the initial effort.
At the start of the second half, coach Milutin Sredojevic introduced Bayo and Richard Bassangwa for Bobosi Byaruhanga who picked a yellow card and Milton Karisa who looked tired
There were further changes with Isma Mugulusi and Travis Mutyaba coming on in place of Farouk Miya and Emmanuel Okwi respectively.
The visitors doubled their lead in the 67th minute off a quick counter attack and Amoura was once again well stationed to tap the ball into the back of the net.
With a minute to the end of the game, Bayo got Uganda’s goal of the day after a good pass from Basangwa.
The result leaves Uganda in third place on 4 points. Algeria move to 15 while Tanzania and Niger have 7 and 2 respectively.
Uganda’s final group game will come away to Niger in September and the Cranes will need to win and hope Tanzania lose to Algeria by a cricket score to stand a chance of qualifying.
