Uganda targets knockout stage in 2020 African Nations Championship

KAMPALA -- Uganda's national football team aims to reach the knockout stage of the 2020 Africa Nations Championship (CHAN), head coach Jonathan McKinstry said on Monday.

"We need to make sure that this time we move a step better because the team has never qualified out of the group in all the four CHAN tournaments it has participated in," McKinstry told Xinhua.

The Cranes qualified as one of the three teams from the Council of East and Central African Football Associations region after defeating Somalia and Burundi.

Uganda are pooled alongside Togo, Rwanda and defending champions Morocco in Group C for the tournament, which runs from April 4 to 25 in Cameroon.

Uganda participated in CHAN tournaments in 2011, 2014, 2016 and 2018, but failed to make it out of the group stage on every occasion.

"This is the time the players must realize that they must work harder to be able to prove a point," said McKinstry, adding that every game will be important and must be handled like a final.