Following a 38-year absence from football’s continental showpiece tournament, Uganda were unsurprisingly seeded among the bottom four teams following a CAF meeting at the body’s headquarters in Cairo on Monday.
The Gabon 2017 seeding was based on the performances of Afcon final tournaments (2012, 2013, 2015), Afcon qualifiers (2013, 2015, 2017), the World Cup (2014) and World Cup qualifiers (2014) that saw Uganda placed alongside Togo, Zimbabwe and Guinea Bissau.
“We absolutely respect everyone as this is really the biggest tournament not for boys but men of Africa. We however don’t fear anyone. I believe in work we do in Uganda and players we have,” Micho said of the seeding. The Cranes will consequently face one of Gabon, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana and Algeria who were placed in Pot A while Tunisia, Mali, Burkina Faso and DR Congo were placed in Pot B.
Pot C has Cameroon, Senegal, Morocco, Egypt.
According to Caf rules, host Gabon automatically goes to A1 and holders Cote d’Ivoire in C1. A draw will be done for Ghana and Algeria for the positions of either B1 or D1.
The Afcon tournament takes place between January 14- February 05 next year in Gabon in the cities of Libreville, Franceville, Oyem-Bitam and Port-Gentil.
Uganda, with 13 points, qualified as the second best finisher from all 13 groups.
Pot 1
Gabon, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Algeria
Pot 2
Tunisia, Mali, Burkina Faso, DR Congo
Pot 3
Cameroon, Senegal, Morocco, Egypt
Pot 4
Togo, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Guinea Bissau
Source/ Daily Monitor
