Posted in News on Aug 29, 2006.
Obua currently the captain of his native Uganda has his eye on this weekends Ghana 2008 Africa Cup of Nations Cup Qualifying games which will see Uganda come up against football light weights Lesotho currently ranked 133 in the FIFA rankings.
Although Obua is not taking the Mountain men lightly he does firmly believe that Uganda have their beating and will be able to emerge as one of the top two teams from group five which will enable them to qualify for the tournament to be held in Ghana.
In a break with tradition Obua talks to Kaizerchiefs.com about his plans to ensure that the cranes pass Lesotho as well as Niger and the Super Eagles of Nigeria en route to Ghana.
KC.COM: David you have become somewhat of a household name in South Africa, have your achievements in the PSL gone unnoticed in Uganda?
David Obua: Most definitely not with satellite Television readily available to most of the world and with many public places in Uganda affording people access to DSTV a lot of people watch our games regularly. Believe me when I say that they are very much abreast of the way Ugandan players are doing not just in South Africa but also across the globe.
KC.COM: Has that added pressure on you to perform for the national team in the same way that you have been doing at club level?
DO: Oh yes it has, the real course of that is the media because if you do not do well when playing for the national team then they bring out a whole lot of untrue reasons as to why you are not performing at your best. I will admit that there is huge expectation placed on the Ugandan national team by the public and sometimes we buckle under that weight but at present I do feel that our team is beginning to do better and with new administration at the Ugandan FA I think that the national team will go places.
KC.COM: Personally do you think that David Obua who plays for Kaizer Chiefs can play the same way for his national team?
DO: I think that over the last couple of games for the national team I have been able to get into the same kind of form that I have been in at club level and it has helped me tremendously, obviously when I am with the national team everything is different to being at Chiefs. The thing is that those of us who play outside of Uganda have had to play a part in bringing back with us not just our playing experiences but a whole new professional attitude which has really helped the team to achieve some good results in recent times.
KC.COM: There have been some changes in Ugandan Football recently have they been good for the game?
DO: The changes have been administrative ones and I am happy with them because I do feel that the new administration has ensured that the national teams of all levels play more friendly matches, we recently played a game against Libya in Tripoli and we drew the game which was a big result for us. Things are looking positive for Ugandan Football at the present time, we are more organised administratively.
KC.COM: To conclude, Uganda are not in the toughest qualifying group but you do have Nigeria in your group, do you still think that Uganda can finish as group winners?
DO: We have a simple formula - don’t lose or draw your home games, go to Nigeria looking for a point, at least win in Niger and definitely there is no room for error in both the games against Lesotho home or away. Should we be able to achieve that then I feel that we will be able to get Ghana by proving not just to ourselves but the continent as a whole that Ugandan Football is on the up.
