He explained that Desabre found a mature team that had just been at the 2017 AFCON finals and a good show in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers.
French tactician Sebastien Desabre is fresh from guiding the Democratic Republic of Congo to the quarterfinals of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, having eliminated record holders Egypt.
DR Congo sailed through after an 8-7 penalty shootout win against the Pharaohs on Sunday. It had ended one-all after 120 minutes.
The last time Desabre had appeared at the AFCON was with the Uganda Cranes when they were eliminated in the Round of 16 by Senegal.
Months later, he left the Cranes in what was a shocking development to the vast majority of the Uganda Cranes.
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AFCON 2023: Sebastien Desabre's brilliant and emotional reaction after guiding DR Congo to the quarterfinals past Egypt
The Frenchman said he was “happy for the people who are in difficulty in the Eastern part” of the Democratic Republic of Congo, dedicating the qualification of his team to the Congolese population victims of the war.
Ugandans have yet to recover and have many a time wished for his return. That has not necessarily been the same for Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA) boss, Moses Magogo.
In a WhatsApp voice note that leaked over a year back, purportedly of Magogo, he claimed Desabre was overly rated and that he had found a team already built by predecessor Milutin 'Micho' Sredojevic.
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"We're going into the competition with a two-fold objective: to go as far as possible and continue to work on renewing our squad," Desabre noted.
He explained that Desabre found a mature team that had just been at the 2017 AFCON finals and a good show in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers.
“Desabre is overrated. He found a mature team that had just been to AFCON (2017) and a stellar 2018 World Cup campaign (qualifiers) by Micho."
Micho would later return in 2021 but faced heavy criticism for employing defensive and old-fashioned football tactics before getting sacked last year after a failed AFCON qualifying campaign.
The Serbian is currently the head coach of the Libyan national football team.
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Both have yet to make a single domestic appearance this season, and the Lugazi game poses the perfect opportunity.
Meanwhile, in the 2023 AFCON quarterfinals, Desabre and DR Congo are set to battle Guinea on February 2.