The federation boss calls on players who feel they are tired to call it quits insisting they are in the process of building a new team
Just five days after midfielder Hassan Wasswa decided to quit playing for Uganda Cranes national team, Federation of Uganda Football Association President Moses Magogo has called on any other unhappy players to follow suit.
The 33-year-old announced on Saturday he had retired from playing for the national team after earning 75 caps.
Wasswa has been among the senior players in the Cranes squad, who has openly criticised Magogo’s style of leadership and especially on his criticism of the players who played in the 2021 African Nations Championship in Cameroon.
In what looks like a response to Wasswa’s comments, Magogo has advised Cranes’ players who are tired to retire honourably.
“We ask those who are tired to honourably retire and we give them a good send-off,” Magogo said as quoted by Kawowo Sports. “There is no player in this country who is indispensable. We have great players who retired, great, great players retired.”
We have a Geoffrey Massa who averaged a goal per match at home, he retired. We had the Magid Musisis, the Hasules, the Sadiq Wassas. They retired. There is nobody who is irreplaceable in this world.”
Magogo has further confirmed the federation is in the process of building a new Cranes team stating some players have outlived their importance for the national team.
“There are players who have offered nothing for the past five years but are still part of the team. If I was the coach, I wouldn’t be summoning them,” Magogo continued.
On his hitting out at Magogo, Wasswa said: “Ugandans have a tendency of running out of situations.
“You know when things are moving badly, they shift blame elsewhere, so, Magogo came out and told people they played sh**ty football but he is the very person who appointed the technical team that summoned the players who played sh**ty football.
“I think Magogo should look into what he said and apologise. The players give 100% to the nation, it’s a heavy jersey to put on. They leave their families back home to represent their country. When you talk about money, they brand you a bad person.”
Wasswa served the Cranes at two Afcon finals – 2017 in Gabon and 2019 in Egypt –and his last assignment for the national team was in Egypt when the Cranes played against Senegal and he also managed a total of 75 caps.
Outside Uganda, Wasswa played for St George (Ethiopia), FC Cape Town (South Africa), Karabukspor (Turkey), Altay (Turkey), Kayseri Erciyesspor (Turkey), Dong Nai (Vietnam), Al Shorta (Iraq), Nejmeh Sporting Club (Lebanon), Tala’ea El Gaish Sporting Club (Egypt) and lately Jeddah club in Saudi Arabia.