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Robson Sharuko in CAIRO, Egypt

TWO months after insinuating Zimbabwe were the weakest team in Group A of the 2019 AFCON finals, Uganda’s French coach, Sebastein Desabre, is singing a different tune ahead of his Cranes’ showdown against the Warriors here tomorrow night that could define either team’s fate at this tournament.

A strong performance by the Warriors in their opening Nations Cup game against hosts Egypt, in a losing cause, appears to have changed the mindsets of many here, including Desabre, whose Cranes started their campaign on a flier after deservedly beating the Democratic Republic of Congo 2-0 on Saturday.

If the Cranes win tomorrow, they will virtually book their place in the second round in a tournament where the top two teams in the group, and the four best runners-up, will remain here to compete in the knock-out stages. Only eight teams, the six bottom teams and the two third placed teams who would have an inferior points or goal tally to the best four third-placed teams, will also be eliminated.

The Warriors have never qualified beyond the group stages of this tournament while the resurgent Cranes, who ended a 19-year wait for a return to the AFCON finals two years ago, won their first Nations Cup game, since 1978, with a 2-0 win over a lifeless DRC.

The quality of the Ugandan performance, in a game in which they would possibly have won by a very wide margin, has caught the eye of many here but Desabre, who suggested the Warriors would be the weakest Group A team during the build-up to this tournament, isn’t taking anything for granted now.

“Zimbabwe seems the least lucky team of the group but I know their squad and their great qualities,’’ Desabre told Goal in April in comments that provoked outrage back home among the Warriors fans.

“The group is complicated even though Egypt is the favourite to top it and our team will compete for the second place spot.’’

However, after the events on Friday and Saturday, the Frenchman appeared to be singing a different tune ahead of his men’s battle against the Warriors.