New footall coach Desabre praises abundant talent in Uganda

KAMPALA, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- Uganda Cranes coach Sebastien Desabre has said he is impressed with the abundant talent in the country.

The 41-year-old French man who was appointed late last month said in an interview before the team traveled to Morocco to prepare for the 2018 Africa Nations Championship, that coming to coach a national team really makes him happy because he is confident of developing the sport in Uganda.

"I want to thank the Uganda FA for the confidence and trust they have invested in me. My promise is that I will give my maximum of my abilities to do a good job," he said.

He also made it clear that he will always labour to make his players understand that each minute on the field of play should be dedicated to the fans and the country. He said one thing he has admired about Uganda since he has been following them is the love for their national team. "I want the fans to support the team 100% and also believe in the project we are going to work on," he added.

Speaking about the Ugandan players after taking the team through a number of training sessions Desabre said the country has good and talented players. "I have asked them to be professional and change mentality, attitude as well as develop self confidence," said Desabre.

Asked about his preferred style of play as a coach, the Frenchman said he believes in offensive style of play, but also with defensive discipline. "But this depends on the atmosphere of play, game, type of players, their level of skills, technical abilities among other things. All in all I like winning with style," he said.

The coach who will have his team play two friendly matches against Congo Brazzaville and Cameroon in Rabat, Morocco ahead of the 2018 Total Africa Nations Championships (CHAN) said will soon draw a road map to develop football in Uganda starting with the U-20s and U-23s.

Desbare said although he has always haboured ambitions of handling a national team, he thought he should first get experience with the African League teams. He said starting a new path as national team coach is exciting because he will work with Uganda Cranes that has a nice and promising project.

He made it clear that he would have stayed longer with Ismaily in Egypt, but he feels it was time to move on and try to achieve other targets of his coaching career with a national team now.

Desabre left Ismaily top of the Egyptian Premier League with 37 points from 16 games, while giants Al Ahly are second with 30 points from 13 games played.

He also commended former Cranes coach Sredojevic for doing a commendable job, but added that it is important for him to bring his knowledge and add his input. "The target of the Uganda FA is to develop and increase professionalism in the country, which aligns very well with mine," he added.

About the CHAN tournament, Desbare said he would be eager to make it out of the group stage first. "I very well know the Zambian and Cote d'Ivoire teams that are in the same group. I will also check out the Namibia team and prepare my team very well because we are facing tough opponents," he added. Enditem