Uganda's French coach Sebastien Desabre is enjoying his return to Egypt and wants his adventures to last longer following the Cranes passage to the knockout stage of the tournament.
Uganda lost 2-0 to Egypt in their last Group 'A' match on Sunday night but secured second spot and automatic qualification to the round of 16 after Zimbabwe, who were on one point before the fixture, were beaten 4-0 by DR Congo at 30 June Stadium on the same day.
"We are disappointed with our match against Egypt. We took risks, played two strikers and lost many chances. But it was a good display from my boys and we have met our Afcon target which was to qualify for the second round," said Desabre in Cairo.
The Frenchman now wants to push the Cranes to go as far as they can.
"We deserve this qualification. We have qualified and want to give our maximum and go far if we can," said Desabre.
The Uganda coach, who has had stints in Egypt with top league side Ismaily in 2017 before joining the Cranes in December of that year, was visibly irritated when asked by an Egyptian journalist to clarify reports linking him with a move back to club football in that country.
"Let us discuss Afcon. That is what I am here for," he snapped back.
This is Desabre's first stint with a national team. He however, has got plenty of experience in Africa.
He has previously coached ASEC Mimosas of Cote d'Ivoire, CS Garoua of Cameroon and Tunisia's ES Tunis together with Clube Recreativo Desportivo Libolo of Angola, Algeria's JS Saoura and Wydad Athletic Club of Morocco.
His other coaching experiences are in France and United Arabs Emirates.
Uganda will meet the team that finished second in Group C - either Kenya or Senegal - in the round of 16.
Cranes played rather well against Egypt but did not score.
Displaying an attack minded game, the Ugandans took the battle to Egypt and the over 70,000 screaming partisan fans at the Cairo stadium with Tanzania's Simba Sports Club striker Emmanuel Okwi, Abdu Lumala of Swedish side Syrianka and KCC's Allan Kyambadde a constant threat.
Full of running and nippy, the trio all tested Pharaohs' goalkeeper Mohamed Elshenawy, who was outstanding on this day.
In fact, the wave was so one sided early in the match Egypt's first attempt on goal came in the 32nd minute via Mohammed Salah, who had hardly seen any ball in the early exchanges.
Uganda were eventually taught that what matters in football is putting the ball in the net with two sucker punches inside 10 minutes.
