Uganda coach Milutin 'Micho' Sredojevic believes the nerves of playing on the biggest stage on the continent led to their 1-0 defeat to Ghana at the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations on Tuesday.
The Cranes, who made a return to the continental championship after a 39-year absence, lost all three points as Andre Ayew scored from the spot on 32 minutes following a foul on Asamoah Gyan.
"We haven't been here for 39 years," Micho said.
"In the first half, we had what I call stage fright. We committed a mistake that I cannot explain and Ayew scored.
"At halftime, we needed to awaken the players so that they believe we can play in tournaments like this.
"We made a risk at the latter stages playing 3-2-5 but it didn't work. I am very proud of my team and will not look for individual mistakes.
"My team has shown that we have the technical and physical ability but we still have to work more.
"We will play against giants Egypt and Mali and we will make sure to give 200 per cent of our efforts."
Prior to Tuesday's encounter, the Cranes had gone undefeated in their last three meetings with the Black Stars.
"We have done everything to get a good result and this has been a great lesson for us," Micho said.
"We showed we are capable to play against the best. I congratulate Ghana who are always a top team.
"We will have two key players back from suspension and I believe we can do better against Egypt."
Uganda play Egypt in their next game on Saturday before rounding off the group stage camping against Mali four days later.
