Black Stars Held By Uganda in Uninspiring Draw | Fans Still Lukewarm Towards the Team

The Cranes of Uganda put on a battling performance to hold the Black Stars to a 1-1 draw in Kumasi in the opening Group E World Cup qualifier.

In fact the Ugandans would feel hard done by on being unable to collect maximum points, as a soft second half penalty for a non-existent foul on Abdul Majeed Warris is what handed the Black Stars the equaliser.

The East Africans were the more motivated and focused side on the day, and it showed as they came very close to leaving Kumasi with the scalp of the group favourites.

In front of a packed but unsupportive Kumasi sports stadium, the Stars were unable to muster any sort of performance to bring the fans back to their side.

Kwesi Appiah named a squad very similar to his starting 11 at the world cup, returnee Jeffrey Schlupp the only new name in the squad from Brazil.

The Stars’ created a couple of good chances early in the first half, but Ugandan goalkeeper, Mamelodi Sundowns’ Dennis Onyango, was in the form of his life.

He first saved a great header from Gyan, who connected to Atsu’s cross after some brilliant work on the right by the Everton winger.

He then calmly collected an Andre Ayew shot, before making another great save after Gyan met a floating ball into the box first time.

Uganda scored just before the break, Ugandan midfielder Mawejje’s shot from the edge of the box skidding away from Fatau Dauda.

For a second after the Ugandan goal, I could swear I saw some Ghanaian fans heartily jubilating behind Fatau’s goalpost.

And monitoring social media, it seems a lot of Ghanaians were actually rooting against the Black Stars, so deep were the wounds they inflicted by the debacle in Brazil.

The second half was uninspiring for most parts, only the penalty for the Stars’ the real action in the half.

Warris danced into the box past a few defenders, and then went down like a sack after minimal contact from a Ugandan defender.

As captain Gyan is on a self imposed penalty exile, Andre Ayew stepped up and coolly converted to level the scores.

Uganda battled some more, hitting some good counter attacks but failed to score. The same was true for the Stars,, who despite some changes remained uninspiring and were lucky to escape the home game with a draw.

The result is reminiscent of one from 2003, that qualifying series being the last time Ghana failed to qualify for an African cup tournament.

Guinea’s earlier win over Togo puts them top of the group, and the next group games feature Togo hosting Ghana on Wednesday, whilst Uganda host Guinea.