A silent rivalry underpinned by a mutually envious affair

But Uganda has managed to catch up in recent times. One win and two draws in the last three matches between the pair have seen the Cranes finally get a hold on the Black Stars.

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Paired in the same group for the qualification phase of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, and paired again in the same group for the 2018 World Cup qualifiers; fate has again pitted Uganda and Ghana in group D of this year’s showpiece in Gabon.

But while the previous encounters were dominated by players and matters of supremacy, Tuesday’s encounter will go a step further. It is billed to be a battle of two tactical minds: Avram Grant vs Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic.

The oil city of Port Gentil will be the venue when the two adversaries renew hostilities. This is not a rivalry as big as the ones between Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola, or even Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson. But in their own cubicle Grant and Micho have created a special rivalry that is set to reach its climax come Tuesday.

The two European coaches have constantly kept an eye on each other since their paths crossed. Surprisingly they were not even opponents in that tournament. However subsequent developments have shown that the rivalry between the pair began even before they played each other.

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When Grant lost his first competitive game in charge of the Black Stars against Senegal, Micho didn’t waste much time to take a swipe at the former Chelsea boss. He played down Grant’s tactical nous by insisting “you can’t go to big competition [like the AFCON] and experiment a formation like 3-5-2, which you have never tried in any official match.” He ended with a charm offensive to the Ghanaian public saying “when you do this, you play with the emotions of Ghanaians”.

Coaches are normally discrete when talking about their peers, but Micho threw that to the dogs. He tried to irk Grant and unsettle him, even when their paths had never crossed. And although the Israeli never responded, it is believed that he immediately took notice of Micho’s intents.

But the Serbian did not stop there. And by the time he engineered a draw against Ghana in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, the tough-talking man was back at his antics. This time he questioned the Black Stars coach’s technical knowhow, opining that Grant’s tactical methods were outdated and that the result against the Black Stars was by no means a fluke but by his tactical superiority.

“If anyone was thinking that Uganda’s 1-1 draw with the Black Stars in Kumasi two years ago and the 1-0 in Kampala were accidents, then they need to read their notes again.

“They need to know that something is happening to Uganda football and today’s game [the 0-0 draw] is a testimony. We do not have the quality that Ghana has but something tactical is happening. I went through the tiniest details to get the result.”

Grant was not amused by the Serbian’s comments and it visibly showed during his post-match conference. The Israeli’s frustrations were so telling that he vented them out on journalists who dared toll the line of Micho to question his approach to the game.

But the final straw was when Micho overstepped his bounds to openly confess his interest in the Ghana coaching job, stating that ”if the time comes I will avail myself to coach the Black Stars of Ghana and I will add new things to the team.” It was another veiled dig aimed at Avram Grant to highlight the shortfalls of the Black Stars. And to suggest that the team needed “new things” particularly did upset Grant.

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Gradually the Serbian was building a wall of familiarity with the Ghanaian media – something Grant was lacking. And even when he was leaving the country with his Ugandan team he left his telephone number behind for some media houses. He continuously kept in-touch with the media even when he had no business with Ghana.

At that stage Grant had had enough of Micho’s envious eyes towards his job, and he bided his time to strike back. He didn’t have to wait for too long before Micho took another step. The Serbian was caught on camera sitting in the stands when the Black Stars took on Uzbek side Bunyodkor in a warm-up friendly. Grant’s own time had come and he didn’t also miss the chance to stick it in.

The Israeli labeled Micho “a spy”. At his sarcastic best, Grant questioned the motives of the Uganda coach, suggesting that Micho talks more about the Black Stars than his own Uganda side.

The war of words has since heated up with Micho calling Grant’s words “total nonsense”.

But it is conspicuously that Micho envies Grant’s job and would have loved to be in the former Chelsea boss’ position right now. And in truth, the feeling is mutual. Avram Grant wishes he also had the stability that the Uganda coach currently enjoys. Back in Uganda the people love and hail Micho. They treat him like a king for qualifying them for a first major tournament since 1970. Fresh from being crown African team of the year 2016 at the CAF awards gala, Uganda look as attractive and decorated as ever. And Grant feels inside that his Black Stars should rather be in that position.

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Back in Ghana Grant is facing the exact opposite. A winless run in the last five games has seen many question the Israeli’s coaching prowess. And with the Ghana Football Association (GFA) tasking him “to win” the trophy in Gabon, the pressure on Grant couldn’t have been much more intense.

His opposite number has none of those problems and will be going into the Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon with a relaxed mind. Grant on the other hand faces a race with time to save his job. Right now the Uganda national team is everything Grant wants his Black Stars to be, just like Micho who would have also hoped to be manning the affairs of Ghana’s technical team.

That has been the root of the mutually envious affair between the two European coaches.

But on Tuesday the stage will be set for both coaches to pit their wits against each other once again. The bragging rights are up for grabs and maybe – just maybe – it could finally bring an end to the envious affair between these two rivals. It won’t just be about Ghana and Uganda, but more importantly it would present Africa the chance to have a first-hand glance of who the better tactician between Avram Grant and Milutin Sredojevic is.