The national team of Iraq defeated Uganda Cranes 1-0 in an international friendly match played at the Al-Shohada International Stadium in Baghdad on Friday.
Alaa Abbas netted the lone goal after 17 minutes with a well taken volley that Uganda Cranes goalkeeper Ismeal Watenga failed to punch out.
The hosts continued to create several chances as they dominated play. But in the second half Uganda Cranes showed more hunger to push forward and came close through Yunus Ssentamu and Milton Karisa.
Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic, Uganda Cranes head coach said despite the defeat his team had responded well especially in the second half.
“We are very happy that we have played a good match against a good Iraq team. These international friendly matches we are playing are preparing our team ahead of the different competitions this year including the AFCON 2023 qualifiers,” added Sredojevic.
The Uganda Cranes team will now travel to Bahrain City to play their last scheduled international friendly against Bahrain on January 27th.
Sredojevic’s team started their series of friendly matches with a 1-1 draw against Iceland and a 2-2 draw against Romanian side FC Botosani. They defeated Moldova 3-2 with Patrick Kaddu scoring a brace in that match also played in Turkey.
