Ahead of Tuesday’s AFCON 2025 Group C encounter in Few, Cranes of Uganda head coach Paul Put has warned Nigeria’s Super Eagles that in football anything is possible.
Uganda will go into the contest with the Super Eagles needing a win to stand a chance of progressing to the knockout round.
The Cranes have recorded one draw and one defeat in their opening two fixtures.
This would be the second meeting between the two teams at the AFCON since their first meeting in the semi-finals of the 1978 edition in Ghana, which Uganda won 2-1.
Also, in the head-to-head meetings Uganda has won four, drawn one and suffered two defeats against the Super Eagles.
Also Read: AFCON 2025: We’re Confident Of Maintaining Our Good Record Against Nigeria -Uganda Defender, Obita
“We know we are facing a very good team who were finalists at the last AFCON edition, they have a strong team,” Put said in his pre-match press conference on Monday.
“But we know what we have to do if we want to go through we have to get a good result because we don’t have any other solution.
“We will give our best for tomorrow’s game, it’s going to be hard, it’s going to be difficult but in football anything is possible.”
Put praised his side’s performance against Tanzania which he believes should motivate his side when they face Nigeria on Tuesday.
“They played a very good game against Tanzania but unfortunately we couldn’t win. But I think it always gives you a good feeling especially when you want to face a team like Nigeria and be confident because if you are not confident then it becomes complicated.”
Put, who was coach of Burkina Faso when they lost to the Super Eagles in the final of AFCON 2013, must do everything right to get the better of the Group C leaders.
“We know the individual qualities of the Nigerian players which is high level, they play in high level competitions in Europe,” he added. “We have analysed them and know their strength so we have to be very concentrated, we have to be aware of things and be prepared, fight to win the duels which will be very important because this is the strong point of Nigeria.”
By James Agberebi in Fes, Morocco
2 Comments
Well, I guess the Super Eagles will have to put Paul Put in his place.
Put was in charge of Burkina Faso when we beat them to the cup in 2013 in SA, so he’s a bit familiar with SE, although Uganda not so much.
I suspect Chelle will field his 2nd eleven tomorrow, giving game time to players like Uzoho, Nnadi, Onuachi, Akinsamiro, Onyedika, etc., then switch to a sizeable number of the regulars if the game is not “gaming”. Lol.
And despite being a superior side, we’ve not always had a good run against the Ugandans. However, I think the current Cranes are not a very strong side, compared to their predecessors.