Crested Cranes Captain Ruth Aturo is relishing the opportunity of leading her teammates at her second COSAFA Women Championship.
Aturo says she can’t wait to walk out of the dressing room as they face Namibia in their group C opener at the Madibaz Stadium on Thursday with Kick off set for 1pm (EAT).
Aturo who was voted the best goalkeeper when Uganda’s Senior Women side debuted at the annual event in 2018 as Uganda finished 3rd behind eventual winners South Africa and Cameroon says it is a dream come true for her to lead the National team at such a big tournament.
‘I am so excited about captaining this great side at this tournament. The team is in great shape and looking forward to our first game against Namibia. We are well prepared and looking forward to getting a positive result against Namibia’ Aturo stated
This is the second time Uganda takes part in the competition with the maiden appearance coming three years ago.
The three group winners will be joined by the best second placed team from all the groups in the semifinals.
In the other Group C fixture, fresh from their Tokyo 2020 Olympics 2019 finalists Zambia will take on Eswantini in the second fixture of the day.
With only the top team in each pool guaranteed of advancing to the semifinals, the game against Namibia provides a huge test to the technical team headed by George Lutalo that wants to use the COSAFA experience to fine tune the squad and build momentum ahead of the 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers scheduled to take place in October. Uganda will face Ethiopia in the first round of the qualifiers.
Lutalo believes this is a perfect chance to build a team that will ably compete in the Qualifiers of 2022 Africa Women Cup of Nations.
“The COSAFA Women’s Championship presents a good opportunity for us to know how best we can go into the AWCON Qualifiers. We hope to have the best performance in South Africa as build up to the games against Ethiopia.” He indicated.
The ninth edition of the COSAFA Women’s Championship got underway on Tuesday in Nelson Mandela Bay as host nation and record winners South Africa seek to win unprecedented fifth title in a row.
The Crested Cranes will be seeking to emulate their Juniors, the U17 side that won the Junior version of the tournament in 2019 in Mauritius. Uganda will rely on the quality of star players Sandra Nabweteme, Laki Otandeka, hasifah Nasuuna, Shadia Nankya, goalkeepers Ruth Aturo and Daisy Nakaziro.
