How fine margins have reduced Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania into fans
Sports
By
Rodgers Eshitemi
| Aug 25, 2025
From the bubbling cities of Nairobi and Dar es Salaam to here in Kampala, the views are almost the same, ‘’our teams tried’’.
With Uganda Cranes having been painfully eliminated from the 2024 African Nations Championship (Chan) by defending champions Senegal on Saturday, it’s now official that there will be no co-host team in the medal bracket in this year’s competition. The final is slated for Saturday at Kasarani Stadium, Nairobi.
From Ryan Ogam’s controversially disallowed goal for Harambee Stars against Madagascar, to missed chances for Cranes on Saturday, it has evidently been a tournament of small margins as countries with strong domestic leagues and football investment make a light work of pretenders.
While some fans looked disappointed and heartbroken before drowning their sorrows with banters on social media after the final whistle, for most of the players, they felt they played beyond expectations.
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“Every mistake you make in this tournament, you are punished. You have to make fewer mistakes to continue in a tournament like Chan because it has experienced players with great techniques and tactics. But it’s been a good learning tournament for us,” Uganda midfielder Patrick Kakande told Standard Sports.
Cranes fell 1-0 to the Lions of Teranga in the third quarter-final match at a fully packed Nelson Mandela Stadium, Namboole, just before dark horses Sudan’s Falcons of Jediane upset the Desert Foxes of Algeria 4-2 via penalties after a 1-1 draw in regular and extra time in the last quarters at Amaan Stadium, Zanzibar.
The wheat has already been separated from the chaff as the chase for Sh452.2 million prize money intensifies after the conclusion of the quarter-finals.
All the four semi-finalists led by two-time champions Morocco, Senegal, Sudan and Madagascar have been at this stage before.
However, just like Kenya’s Harambee Stars and Tanzania’s Taifa Stars, the Cranes have now been reduced to spectators in the tournament used as a dry run for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) to be co-hosted by the three East African nations. But all the three federations are assured of Sh58 million after their teams reached the quarter-finals stage.
Kenya lost 4-3 to Madagascar on penalties after a 1-1 draw at Kasarani on Friday, before Tanzania suffered a 1-0 defeat to Atlas Lions at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium.
To improve the quality of domestic leagues and ensure East African teams perform well in continental showpieces, Uganda Cranes Morley Byekwaso challenged clubs to sign quality foreign players.
Save for Tanzania, Kenya and Ugandan leagues have been a pale shadow of their former selves.
But the region will now back their sole Cecafa representative Sudan as they clash with Madagascar in the first semi-final in Dar tomorrow (5:30pm) before Morocco tackle Senegal at 8:30pm in Kampala.
But the biggest heartbreak was in Zanzibar with goalkeeper Mohamed Abooja emerging the hero after saving two penalties against Algeria as Kwesi Appiah’s transformation with Sudan continues.
The war-torn nation, whose Premier League resumed in July after a-25 month-lull, trained only three times before the tournament.