Uganda Cranes coach: Gor Mahia deserved to win

Uganda Cranes coach Sebastien Desabre says Gor Mahia deserved to win against eternal rivals AFC Leopards during Saturday's Mashemeji derby.

The Frenchman was among thousands of spectators in attendance at Kasarani alongside his namesake - Harambee Stars coach Sebastien Migne and his assistant Nicholas Bourriquet.

“Gor controlled the game with a good organization, I think 2-0 is a fair result,” the 42-year-old, who flew in the country to watch Ugandan duo at Gor in left back Shafik Batambuze and forward Erisa Ssekisambu, told Nation Sport in a one-on-one interview.

Desabre, who sealed Cranes’ ticket to the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) from group “L”, had a tete-a-tete with the two players in the dugout after the game.

While Batambuze clocked 90 minutes, Ssekisambu rested Jacques Tuyisenge in the 81st minute.

“Shafik and Erisa have a possibility of being called up in my team that’s why I came here. We follow 50 players playing in foreign leagues in preparation for the next Afcon,” he noted.

Desabre has opened up the possibility of playing Kenya in an international friendly match before the two nations depart for Egypt.

Kenya qualified from Group “F” after a 15-year hiatus.

“But we’ve to wait for the draw, who knows, maybe we shall be pooled in the same group but we are all going to Egypt to find a good result like we’ve shown in the qualification round

“I am happy for Migne and the Kenyan fans. He is very professional and I am sure Kenya is preparing well for this championship,” he offered.

Uganda, who top their group on 13 points, visit neighbours Tanzania in the final qualification match on March 22, the same day Kenya will be away to Black Stars of Ghana for their final group “F” tie.

“We want to finish the qualifiers with zero goals conceded and so it will be a very important match to us just like it will be to Tanzania,” he concluded.

Tanzania need a win in that match to secure the remaining qualification slot in group "L".