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CECAFA U-15 tourney in Eritrea: East Africa sweeps all semi-final slots

Village Reporter

Matches are underway in Eritrean capital Asmara which is hosting the Council for East and Central African Football Associations, CECAFA, under 15 championships.

Per the calculations of Group A, Kenya and Tanzania have qualified for the semi finals. Kenya bagged 10 points to top the group whiles Burundi came second with seven points.

Rwanda and Uganda have qualified for the semi-finals of the tournament after Day 8 fixtures were dispatched. Uganda had the easiest task of beating South Sudan by 5 – 0 whiles Rwanda managed a slim 2 – 1 win over Tanzania to go through.

The four teams will return to action on Wednesday (August 28) with semi-final clashes. The final has been scheduled for August 30, 2019, in Asmara.

Hosts Eritrea stuttered on day one as they failed to win their fixture against Burundi. The East Africans prevailed 2 – 1 in the game.

The Eritrean team, however, redeemed their chances on Day 5 (August 20) beating neighbouring Sudan emphatically by 6 – 0.

Eritrea went on to lose by 2 – 1 to Kenya in a game that was billed a do or die affair. Whiles in the battle of the whipping boys, Somalia put two unanswered goals past Sudan on Day 7.

Match Day results:

DAY 8 (August 23) results
Tanzania vs. Rwanda 1 – 2
Uganda vs. South Sudan 5 – 0

DAY 7 (August 22)
Eritrea vs. Kenya 1 – 2
Somalia vs. Sudan 2 – 0

DAY 6 (August 21)
Tanzania vs. South Sudan 6 – 0
Rwanda vs. Ethiopia 3 – 0

DAY 5 (August 20)
Kenya vs. Burundi 1 – 1
Sudan vs. Eritrea 0 – 6

DAY 4 (August 19)
Tanzania vs. Uganda 0 – 2
South Sudan vs. Ethiopia 1 – 1

DAY 3 (August 18)
Sudan vs. Kenya 0 – 4
Burundi vs. Somalia 2 – 1

DAY 2 (August 17)
Rwanda vs. South Sudan 3 – 0
Uganda vs. Ethiopia 3 – 0

DAY 1 (August 16)
Kenya vs. Somalia 3 – 1
Eritrea vs. Burundi 1 – 2

East African dominance:

East African sides have proven superior as the fixtures enters Day 6 (August 21). Burundi, Kenya and Uganda have won their first two fixtures booking qualification for the next round. Kenya and Burundi played a one-all draw on Tuesday.

The tournament kicked off on August 16 and is expected to end on September 1. Sides that have struggled include South Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia and Tanzania.

Even though reports indicated that Djibouti were due to participate, that did not happen and groups were reconfigured into two of five teams each.

Group breakdown of competing teams:

Group A – Eritrea, Kenya, Burundi, Somalia, Sudan
Group B – Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Tanzania

Ethiopian lads made history with outing

Despite being the first major tournament Eritrea is hosting, history was made by the Ethiopian lads who lost their first match last Saturday against Uganda 3 – 0.

They became the first Ethiopian team to play in Asmara in over two decades – the period during which both countries were engaged in a border row. Incidentally, none of those boys were born when the war broke out in 1998.

They attained the feat after a friendly match planned for Asmara between the two senior sides failed to hold last year.

According to CECAFA General Secretary, Nicholas Musonye, the aim of the tournament is to develop talents at the grassroot level which is the basic stage in the development of a player.

Photo Credit: Eritrea Football Federation website

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