Uganda claim fifth place in dramatic “final”

Uganda's national team bid farewell to the 5th edition of the Beach Soccer Africa Cup of Nations Mozambique 2022 with a creditable fifth place in the overall standings, after beating their Malawian counterparts 6-6 (4-1) today.

This match was about qualifying the fifth and sixth places of the competition. A format introduced to allow the teams to play as many matches as possible.

It was a dramatic and intense match from start to finish. It is worth remembering that in the group stage the Ugandans were knocked out of the title race by the Pharaohs, while Malawi fell at the feet of Morocco.

Malawi came into the game with a strong fighting mentality in the box, having created the first dangerous situation that ended in a penalty, but Watson Frazer didn't have the coolness to convert the penalty given by Senegalese referee Aly Deme into a goal.

Only after some persistence did the Malawi Flames get the desired goal through midfielder Dala Simba (9') and, with a minute remaining in the first period, Watson Frazer made amends for a missed goal, scoring to make it 2-0, in a persistent move that culminated in a goal that was only achieved on the rebound.

It went to halftime in the first period with Uganda uncharacteristic, despondent and lacking the initiative. The Malawians extended their lead with two goals from Ganizani Mphande and captain Sandram Ussi (4-0) before the break.

After a deep sleep, the Sand Cranes of Uganda were pegged back through Baker Lukooya (4-1), but a few moments later a defensive error allowed Malawi to make it 5-1 through Oblen Khumbula. Ugandan captain and striker Baker Lukooya scored to make it 2-5 and his teammate Sharifu Opuuli took his team into the second period with 3-5 on the board.

It looked as if the Swiss coached Ugandans were going to pull the trigger and turn the game around. The Sand Cranes were rousing and passionate in the third period, and Joshua Letti made it 4-5. Even after Paul Lule missed a penalty, top scorer Nkuubi Brian, levelled the score (5-5) taking the game to three minutes of overtime where the teams scored again. Sandram Ussi for Malawi and Nkuubi Brian for Uganda. The extra time ended with 6-6 on the scoreboard.

What they said

Willy Kumilambe, Malawi coach

"It's like, it was not our day, but we got a lot of lessons here and I believe by far we the better side, it's just experience. I believe in the boys. We tried everything, we just have to work on the technical all over again. I also believe we can improve this, we were leading and could not just hold even the equalizing game a goal came just six minutes before the game was over, but they are young boys and we will come back and strong"

Angelo Schirinzi, Uganda coach

"We played poorly in the first period and then we woke up and became more focused. Malawi knew how to take advantage of the mistakes we made. Malawi is a strong team and very motivated. However, my players gained motivation and managed to win in a sufferable manner."