Northern Irishman Johnathan McKinstry was on Monday unveiled as the new head coach of the Ugandan men’s national football team at the Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA) headquarters in Mengo.
McKinstry replaces Frenchman Sebastien Desabre who left for Egyptian Premier League club Pyramids FC in July following the Africa Cup of Nations.
FUFA chief executive Edgar Watson confirmed that McKinstry’s appointment on a three-year deal takes effect from October 1.
McKinstry was the head coach of Bangladesh Premier League side Saif SC.
McKinstry said he was honoured and excited to be appointed to the position and expressed his belief that he could achieve great things.
“There’s no doubt that the Ugandan national team is one of the best international jobs in Africa, at the moment, in terms of the direction that the team is going, in terms of the level of competitiveness and in terms of the ambition of FUFA,” McKinstry said.
McKinstry, 34, added that one of his targets will be to take Uganda to the world’s biggest football tournament.
“Yes, I want to go to an Africa Cup of Nations and we want to do that; we want to take the Cranes further. For me, there is a burning desire to go to a World Cup. I see the Uganda Cranes as a great opportunity for us to come together and to go to a World Cup.”
McKinstry has previously coached Rwanda and Sierra Leone. Under his leadership, Rwanda finished second in the 2015 CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup in Ethiopia and reached the quarterfinals of the 2016 Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) which it hosted.
While at Sierra Leone, McKinstry led the West African nation to its highest ever FIFA World Ranking position of 50 on August 2014.
