Uganda Cranes coach Johnathan McKinstry has heaped praise on Vipers’ emerging midfielder AbdulKarim Watambala as one with great intensity.

The youngster is part of the 25-man Uganda Cranes squad preparing to face South Sudan in the 2021 Afcon qualifiers on November 12 and 16, 2020.

“Some of the reasons we were attracted to Karim is that he plays with great intensity,” McKinstry told the Fufa website.  “Karim attracts everyone’s eye because he does everything with force and positivity,” he added.

“He is really hungry to learn and improve. We have worked with him for the past six months and he has made step by step progress.”

Watambala, a league winner with Vipers SC last season is expected to learn from the experienced national team players during this period according to McKinstry.

“He is still young, will make mistakes but in general he is moving in the right direction. There’s no doubt that he deserves to be in the squad and I also think he can learn so much because of the exposure with the experienced players like Khalid Aucho, Mike Azira, Emmanuel Okwi from whom he can learn so much from them and that can help him improve further.”

Watambala joined teammates Halid Lwaliwa and Disan Galiwango, KCCA’s Charles Lukwago and Brian Aheebwa as well as URA’s Paul Mbowa and Shafik Kagimu on the list of local players for the game against South Sudan.