AMONGST the stars who play abroad, David Obua arrived last but left the biggest mark on the game that may have thrust Uganda into the Nations Cup finals for the first time in 30 years.

But such is the mathematics in which Uganda is entangled for the race to finish as one of the best second-placed three countries that even Obua’s hat-trick cannot yet be entered into the country’s soccer annals until all the qualifiers involving other countries have been played.

Nevertheless, Cranes Coach Laszlo Csaba still savoured the moment. “I am ready for Chogm,” an ecstatic Csaba said in reference to government adverts urging Ugandans to embrace the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting due in Kampala in November. “We could have won 4-1 or 5-1 because we had a lot of chances, but a lot of players failed to use them. The team played well.

This is the happiest day of my life.” However, star man Obua was modest, attributing the performance to the entire team and not individual brilliance. “It is not about Obua,” he said. “It is about the team because I could not have done it by myself. We have a bunch of players that are good.”

The Cranes started the game on a high earning and converting a penalty in the second minute. Overlapping on the left, Nestory Kizito slotted the ball in the path of Geoffrey Sserunkuuma who was blatantly impeded by Moses Moussa. Obua stepped up to coolly slot in the bottom left corner of the goal as Niger’s goalkeeper Dacuda Kassaly dived to the right.

That was certainly not the last the opposition was seeing of Obua. The lanky midfielder waged several attacks, dashed from the wing to the centre and back with utmost ease as the Cranes, predictably, seized the biggest chunk of possession although the creativity at the front was lacking.

The Cranes set up camp in the opposition half rendering local goalkeeper Denis Onyango largely unemployed. It was until the 15th minute that he got his first feel of the ball.

The visitors, against the run of play, scored an equaliser almost at the stroke of half time to punish the Cranes’ laxity in defence. Kizito’s jostling with Pascal Anicet was adjudged a foul. Anicet sneaked in to nod home from the resultant set piece. You could hear a pin drop as the Cranes net shook for the first and last time.

After recess, Csaba’s resolve to massively attack the visitors was mirrored in the substitution of the marauding Assani Bajope for the less mobile Noah Kasule. The dividends were instant as Bajope turned the game on its head.

Bajope exchanged short passes with Sserunkuuma to release Dan Wagaluka but like many previous Cranes attempts at goal, his shot too was wide off the mark.
To add verve to the Cranes’ offensive set-up, Csaba brought on Vincent Kayizi on 52 minutes for the visibly tiring Wagaluka. Kayizi’s contribution too was immense. His play, a mixture of crosses and dribbles, added urgency to the Cranes’ attack.

But the Ugandan national side had to wait until 72 minutes for its territorial supremacy to finally pay off. Obua, like he had and was to do for the remainder of the game, rose above the rest to nod Uganda in front off Kayizi’s cross in a move that was started by skipper Ibra Sekagya.

It was game on as the crowd chipped in with its 12th man role. In the 84th minute, the Cranes earned a free kick following Karim Lancina’s unlawful challenge on Massa slightly on the right side of the penalty box.

Obua duly stepped up. With the power of a sledgehammer and the precision of a laser, he sent the ball swerving into the bottom right corner of the goalpost leaving Niger’s custodian as stranded as a rabbit in the middle of a busy road. And that is where Uganda finds itself. In the middle of the road to Ghana ’08 as it awaits results from other matches.