Uganda's U-23 team to face Egypt in 2016 Olympic qualifier

The Uganda Kobs, the national U-23 team on Thursday left for Egypt where they will face the hosts in the first leg of the 2016 Olympic Games/2015 Africa U-23 Championship qualifiers.

Head Coach Milutin "Micho" Sredojevic told Xinhua before departure that they will take the match seriously and defend well to avoid a poor result. "We know Egypt is a very good team, but we are up to the task," he said.

The match will be played at the Al Borg Stadium in the town of Alexandria before the return leg on Aug. 1 at the Mandela National Stadium, Namboole.

Sredojevic said he expects defender Richard Kasagga who has been undergoing trails with South Africa's Mpumulanga Black Aces and Sudan based goalkeeper Abdul Salim Magoola to join the team before the Saturday game.

Striker Junior Yunus Ssentamu who plies his trade for Tunisia's CS Sfaxien and Farouk Miya who was voted Most Valuable Player in the 2014/2015 Uganda Premier League are expected to lead Uganda in the match.

Uganda ejected Rwanda on a 4-1 goal aggregate to qualify for the final phase of the qualifiers. Incase Uganda eliminates Egypt, they will qualify for the 2015 Confederation of African Football U-23 Championship to take place in Senegal in December. The three best teams at the African event will automatically qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil. Endi