Express FC coach Wasswa Bbosa has stated the most important thing in the Uganda Cup is to win matches hence his happiness at advancing to the Round of 16 of the competition.
The Red Eagles picked up a 1-0 return leg win over fellow league outfit Kyetume FC on Saturday to advance 3-2 on aggregate since a 2-2 draw was recorded in the first-leg contest.
It was second-half substitute Frank Kalanda who won the game for Express after he converted from 12 yards with three minutes of normal time left to earn his team the win at home.
Coach Bbosa has come out to explain the most important thing in cup games is to win and his team did exactly that to advance, and further confirmed he has now turned his focus to the Ugandan Premier League match against SC Villa on Tuesday.
“The most important thing is we managed to win and stay in the competition,” Bbosa told the club’s official website. “The Uganda Cup only requires you to win.
“We managed to the game well and managed to win, now our focus turns to the league, the Tuesday game is huge and we don’t take it for granted so our focus is to keep our momentum going by winning on Tuesday [against SC Villa].”
On his part, goalkeeper Denis Otim was happy to keep a clean sheet and said they are ready to face any team in the Round of 16.
“We managed to win today [Saturday], we’re very glad that we managed to keep a clean sheet,” Otim told the same portal.
“I want to thank all the players, they were determined and committed because we played as a team to get the result, I also want to thank the coaches because they selected a good team and also prepared as well.
“For me, they’re the reason why we won, and now we focus on the draw [Round of 16] but whoever we get we’re prepared and for the Tuesday game [against SC Villa], we are motivated and we shall surely prepare and win it.”
The first half saw both teams contain each other with nothing to write home about save for Mutyaba Muzamiru, who tried to break down the Kyetume defence and shoot, but Joel Mutakubwa collected the shot calmly in the opening six minutes.
Martin Kizza almost broke the deadlock for the Red Eagles five minutes later when he neatly cut in from the left but his cross was calmly cleared by Mustafa Mujuzi.
After the break, the hosts kept pushing and the breakthrough came with three minutes to go, when winger Kizza made his way into the box and was fouled as he tried to control the ball, and centre referee Rajab Bakasambe pointed to the spot and up stepped Kalanda, who made no mistake to make it 1-0.
Express will shift their focus to the league and next up is an away trip to arch-rivals Villa at the Bombo Military grounds on Tuesday. The Red Eagles won the first meeting 1-0.