Coach Morley Byekwaso has alot of theoretical and practical homework to do as Uganda Hippos prepare to take on hosts Ghana in the final of the 2023 African Games in Accra on Friday, March 22, 2024.
The Hippos staged a massive comeback against Congo Brazzaville in the semi-final, winning 4-2 to historically reach the final of the competition for the first time ever, after failing to negotiate past the semifinals in 1999 in South Africa.
It will not be the first time that Uganda will be meeting with Ghana at a major competition final. The two countries have met twice before, and Uganda settled for silver as Ghana on both occasions claimed the gold.
The first time was when the senior sides of the two nations met at the 1978 AFCON final where the Cranes’ dream of winning their first ever continental trophy was shattered by Opoku Afriyie ‘Bayie’ who scored a brace for Ghana to claim the prestigious African title.
The most previous meeting was in 2021, at the 2020 U20 AFCON final where the Black Satellites edged the contest 2-0 in Mauritania, thanks to Daniel Afriyie Barnie’s brace.
Fast forward to 2024, and there will be a repeat of the same fixture, this time at the 2023 African Games (U20) final in Accra-Ghana, with Byekwaso, who was Uganda’s (U-20) head coach in 2021 once again showing up as the man in charge of the Hippos this year.
Since that heartbreaking loss to Ghana in 2021, Byekwaso moved on from being head coach of that record-breaking national junior squad to replacing Mike Mutebi as KCCA manager on interim basis in March 2021.
In July that same year, the coach, a former Uganda Cranes and KCCA player was awarded a permanent contract at Lugogo, he tried to turn things around, but everything didn’t go as planned, and he got sacked with more than a year left on his three-year contract with the Kasasiro Boys. He since got employed as SC Villa assistant coach.
Now, three years after, the coach is back to steer another youthful group, against familiar opponents in another continental showpiece!
Won’t Ghana’s ‘Dominant Afriyie Spirit’ Come Back To Haunt Uganda Again?
Over so many years apart, and the incidents in 1978 and 2021, like it has happened again in 2024 all seem like a reproduction of a movie script; An underrated Ugandan team beats all odds to appear on the final to face the same West African side (Ghana).
For the past two meetings, Uganda unluckily went on to lose by two goals to Ghana, coincidentally, both scored by a random player whose surname is Afriyie!
Tales from Ghana say the name Afriyie is of ancient African origin associated with “Success or Good luck”.
The bad news for Uganda is that their opponents (Ghana) will have another forward named Afriyie (Jerry) lining up against the Hippos on Friday. Even more worrying for Uganda, Afriyie has already done so well for Ghana at the tournament.
Football is not all about superstition, but you can’t help but fear for the hippos that Ghana’s ‘ancient Afriyie spirit’ might rise once again, to strike Uganda, for the third time in three meetings!
Afriyie has so far contributed three goals important goals for the Black Satellites, scoring two of Ghana’s five goals at the tournament, and most notably made a very brilliant assist in the semifinal as Ghana scored very late to dump Senegal out in the semifinal.
The Ghanaian youngster had also scored two of Ghana’s four goals in three matches as the Black Satellites finished top of Group A with seven points.
The electric forward scored his first of the tournament as Ghana beat Gambia 3-1 to move on top of Group A in their second game at the tournament. Aziz Misibau and Abdul Aziz Issah were the other goal scorers in that encounter at Accra Sports Stadium.
Afriyie got his second in the last group game, he scored the only goal as Ghana secured their place at the top of the table with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Benin.
In the semifinal that was a very tight match-up, Afriyie, with blistering speed made a solo run on the left, recieving the ball from the goalkeeper to beat two defenders before cutting the ball back in for Michael Ephson to score in the dying minutes of the game.
That was all for Ghana to win 1-0, to set up what will be a thrilling encounter with Uganda on Friday.
The Uganda Hippos had better watch out for the hosts who have conceded just once in this tournament.
Meanwhile, Uganda seem more prepared this time round, the Hippos have won all their four games in the competition to reach the final.
To win their first continental honor however, Uganda have to beat Ghana, but the East Africans first have to deal with the West Africans’ Afriyie.
