Ugandan coach Johnathan McKinstry believes they were lucky to beat Tanzania in the semi-finals of the Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup in Kampala.
The Cranes needed a late goal courtesy of Fahad Bayo to down the Kilimanjaro Stars and book their place in the final of the competition.
Speaking to Goal after the match, McKinstry has admitted Tanzania were very organised and did not give his players space to play their usual game.
“By the nature of teams qualifying, Tanzania were a very disciplined side, very well organized, with a quality coach and today we found it very difficult to find space, they restricted our space and kept their shape and were very disciplined,” McKinstry told Goal.
“We knew we also had quality in the attack and possession and despite missing a number of chances in the first half, we had to win and we finally got the last-minute chance and punished them.”
Next matches
On Uganda’s target now they have reached the final, McKinstry said: “We want to win [the trophy], we want to win, and not only me, everyone talks about Uganda how they have good success in the region, but remember only one boy in this team [Mutyaba] as picked a Cecafa medal before, we have 19 guys in the squad who have never won a Cecafa medal, so its is not just me who wants to be successful but everyone else in the squad.”
Asked on what to expect against Eritrea in the final, McKinstry said: “We played against them in the group stages and they were very difficult and I said they were very remarkable even after the match, they press well and passing well, they are a very tough team and we must be ready to deal with them.”
Uganda will now face Eritrea in the final on Thursday while Kenya and Tanzania will face off in the third place play-off.