Former Uganda Cranes attacking midfielder Jackson Mayanja was appointed as the head coach of the Uganda U20 national football team on an interim basis.

Mayanja is hopeful that his coaching experience will come in handy for him to form a strong Hippos team.

“I like coaching young men and I know that this is the future of Ugandan football,” Mayanja told the media before adding.

“It is the vast experience that I have in coaching that I believe FUFA based on to hand me this opportunity.”

“Majority of the players that were involved in this team previously are not here meaning that we have to build a new team.”

“Developing a team that plays the modern attacking type of football is our ultimate goal,” Mayanja added.

The former Kyetume FC coach replaces KCCA FC’s Morley Byekwaso and will be assisted by Simeon Masaba and Noah Kasule.

Mayanja’s first engagement with the Hippos was a 2-1 victory over his predecessor’s KCCA in a friendly game.

The Hippos will take part in the Africa Cup of Nations U20 Zonal Qualifiers in Sudan starting on October 28th to November 11th, 2022.

Uganda is in Group B alongside Tanzania and Ethiopia and they will be hoping to qualify for their second successive AFCON which will be hosted by Egypt from February 18th to March 12th, 2023.

Under the guidance of Byekwaso in 2020, they reached the AFCON final in Mauritania before losing 2-0 to Ghana.