Uganda Cubs Storm Cecafa U-17 Semis

 

Uganda Cubs have qualified for the semi-finals at the on-going Cecafa U-17 Championship in Burundi.

The defending champions humbled Sudan 3-0 yesterday in Gitega to book a place in the last four after starting the campaign with a 1-a draw against Tanzania on Sunday.

Andrew Kawooya netted a brace in the first half before Moses Bakkabulindi had his name on the score sheet after 48 minutes. The win takes the Uganda Cubs to four points ahead of Tanzania who face Sudan in the last Group B match on Sunday.

On Monday Cecafa sent the Zanzibar team home after it was discovered they had 12 over age players registered for the tournament. Zanzibar's dismissal reduced the number of team in Group B.

“We should have scored over five goals against Sudan but my players were very wasteful,” said Uganda Cubs coach Peter Onen. The coach said the team has to learn to convert their chances as they get into the knock out stage of the tournament.

Kenya lead Group A with four points after their opening 4-0 win over hosts Burundi followed by a goalless draw against Ethiopia. The Somalian team are second with four points, while Ethiopia are third with one point and the hosts Burundi bottom of the log. Ethiopia had stopped Somalia 3-0 but the Cecafa disciplinary Committee awarded three points and three goals to Somalia after discovering that Ethiopia fielded three over age players.

The Championship which returns since 2009 when it was last held is sponsored by the World governing body FIFA. However Cecafa member nations like South Sudan, Djibouti, Rwanda and Eritrea are not taking part.

Cecafa is using the competition to also prepare for the qualifiers for the 2019 African U-17 Championship to take place in Tanzania.