AFCON: Paul Put concedes Uganda showed Tunisia too much respect

Uganda national team head coach Paul Put conceded his side gave too much respect to Tunisia in their opening fixture of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Morocco on Tuesday.

In the Group C fixture at Prince Moulay Abdellah Sports Complex in Rabat, Tunisia made a perfect with a convincing 3-1 victory over the Cranes. The Carthage Eagles took early control of the contest and opened the scoring in the 10th minute through Elyes Skhiri, who finished off a well-worked team move with a precise strike.

The North Africa nation doubled their lead just before the break, with Elias Achouri showing great composure inside the box to score. Achouri added the third in the 64th minute for the first brace of the AFCON in Morocco.

Though Uganda pulled a goal back in stoppage time through Denis Omedi, it was too late for the East Africans to pull a comeback.

Uganda will next face neighbours Tanzania

“We showed them too much respect, we know they are good at set pieces. This is a bad start. I think we were not aggressive enough. If you play AFCON, you need to win the duels,” the Belgian tactician told CAFOnline.com.

“We only had about 25 minutes of the game but the rest, we were on the backfoot which is not enough for a competition like the Africa Cup of Nations.

“We know what we have to do in our next game. We will be playing under pressure. A draw will not be enough. You now need to win your next game to be in a position to finish second or third. We will analyse the game and identify what we did wrong and what can be done better. I do believe that we can bounce back.”

Uganda will next face neighbours Tanzania at Al Medina Stadium seeking to bounce back to winning ways.

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