Africa-Press – Tanzania. NATIONAL U-17 team, ‘Serengeti Boys’ have qualified to play in the semis final stage of CECAFA Zone group despite a 1-1 draw with Djibouti at Umuganda Stadium in Rubavu, Rwanda.
Tanzania will lock horns with Ethiopia in the semis while Djibouti, will face group A winners, Uganda.
The draw has spoiled Serengeti’s winning record in the CECAFA Zone qualifiers despite sealing an early ticket to semis.
They have collected four points followed by Djibouti at second with two points and at the bottom are Rwanda with a point. Djibouti have ended their campaign with two draws including a barren draw with hosts on Wednesday.
Serengeti took the lead on the first half of the game through Djibouti’s Abdek Mouhoumed’s own goal after Mbaraka Mohamed’s free-kick deflected into the net in the 33rd minute.
Tanzania’s outstanding performance in the first half would have provided them with more goals including the team’s skipper Ladaki Abbasi attempt that went wide in the 8th minute.
The first half ended with Tanzania at 1-0 lead. Djibouti showed tremendous determination and defensive solidity in the second half tightening Serengeti’s attacking line.
Djibouti boys did well in the stoppage to keep out a close-range of Serengeti Boy’s forward Omari Abbas attacker in the 78th minute and the custody also denied another great opportunity for Abbas in the 80th minute.
Djibouti leveled in the 81st minute via a long range free-kick that bounced and deflected the Tanzanian goalie Abdallah Hamis before finding the back of the net.
After the equalizing goal, Tanzania responded back with an attack from Kassimu Ibrahimu in the 83rd minute hit a crossbar.
Having crushed the host’s country, Rwanda 3-1 and drawn with Djibouti at the same venue; Tanzania has generally displayed quality from both of its games.
Serengeti in the first encounter stamped a victory through efforts from Kassimu Yahya who scored one and Omar Abbas who completed the game with a brace.
Kassimu Yahya scored the opening goal in the 10th minute after the kickoff, and then followed by Omar Abbas who scored a brace in the 14th and 61st minutes, while Rwanda’s consolation goal was netted by Irihamye Eric in the 18th minute.
While in Group A; Uganda Cubs have taken the command with a hefty 5-0 victory over neighbour Kenya.
A hat trick by Oscar Mawa in the 7th, 50th and 54th minutes of the game; Travis Mutyaba at 78th and Ronald Madoi 85th was enough to immerse Kenya.
The Cubs stamped a 3-0 victory over Ethiopia at the same venue yesterday with Oscar Mawa netting a brace in the 17th and 62nd minutes; and Ivan Irinimbabazi completed the count.
Serengeti Boys’ utmost goal is to seal a place to the AFCON finals which will be staged in Morocco from July 2021 and will involve 12 teams.
The East African region will only be represented by two teams. Cameroon are currently the defending champions.
After their qualification, they will have to set a new goal that is to qualify for the 2021 FIFA U-17 World Cup. The AFCON semifinalists will be the representatives of those competitions which will be staged in Peru.
