- AFCON U20 Quarterfinals
- Burkina Faso vs. Uganda – 10:00pm
Uganda Hippos will face West African opposition Burkina Faso on Thursday evening in the quarterfinals of the U20 Africa Cup of Nations.
Hippos head coach Morley Byekwaso believes his players went through many tests during the group stage of the competition and are ready for the physical challenge against Burkina Faso.
“Burkina Faso is a strong team but we have gone through all the tests and challenges in our group games,” Byekwaso said during the pregame presser.
At the group stage, Hippos brushed Mozambique aside and came from down to beat hosts Mauritania. Their only defeat in the group came against Cameroon in a game in which they matched the physicality of their opponents.
“We are facing a new team that is physical but we are like a wounded lion. We have lost and won, there is nothing to lose but to give out what we are naturally capable of doing.
“It will be an interesting match for both teams. We shall play more attacking football to have the best results from the match.”
Derrick Kakooza and Steven Sserwadda have each scored twice for the Hippos. The latter looked to have good telepathy with Sam Senyonjo and Ivan Asaba upfront against Mauritania which could force Byekwaso to drop Ivan Bogere to the bench again.
Bobosi Byaruhanga, Isma Mugulusi, and Richard Basangwa have been constants while the backline of Gavin Kizito, Musa Ramathan, Kenneth Ssemakula, and Aziz Kayondo as well as Jack Komakech between the sticks has been self-selected.
The winner of the tie between Uganda and Burkina Faso will meet the winner between Morocco and Tunisia at the semifinals.
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