TANZANIA came from a goal down to secure a 2-1 victory in the first leg match of FIFA U-20 Women World Cup Qualifying match at Chamazi Complex in Dar es Salaam yesterday.
To advance to the next round Tanzania needs to avoid any defeat as a draw of any kind will see them eliminate Uganda in the race for the WWC finals. Diana Msewe equalised for Tanzania in the 65th minute before Opa Clement scored the winner for Tanzania in the 70th minute.
Uganda Hippos, who were the first to open their goal account, netted their opener through Julieth Nalukenge in the 47TH minute. It was a tough match as the players finished the half in a barren draw.
Other matches of the 2020 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup preliminary round qualifying saw Malawi coming from-behind to 1-1 draw with Zimbabwe at Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre on Saturday.
Boasting experienced players from the squad finished in the Cosafa Cup semi-final in South Africa last year Zimbabwe started the game strongly before the packed stadium.
Fans watched the game free of charge as Football Association of Malawi sought to drum up more support for the team.
After a goalless first half, Zimbabwe stunned the home crowd when Shyline Dambamuromo rose highest to head into the net in the 60th minute after the hosts defence had failed to stop a corner kick from Valeria Packry.
South Africa became one foot into the first round of the 2020 FIFA Women’s U-20 World Cup qualifiers following a comfortable 2-0 away victory over Zambia on Saturday at Nkoloma Stadium in Lusaka.
First half goals from Chelsea Daniels and Thubelihle Shamase gave the visitors the vital win to take into next week’s final leg at home in South Africa. Daniels put South Africa ahead in the 8th minute when Angel Dlamini rolled the ball into her path before she dribbled past Zambia goalkeeper Anna Mukumbuta.
Shamase scored the final goal in the 38th minute punishing the hosts defence for failing to clear their lines as South Africa dominated play heading into the break before the tide changed in the last 45 minutes.
The two sides meet in the last leg during the weekend of January 31 -February 1, with the winner facing either Botswana or Namibia at the First Round. Meanwhile the national U-16 team were bundled out of the Mercedes Benz Aegon competition following a 2-2 draw with the host Turkey at Altinordu Tesislet stadium yesterday.
It was a highly competitive game with high hopes for Tanzania to go through the semifinals but after a draw it was a discouragement as Ireland won against Kosovo by 4-0 matching two more points ahead of Tanzanian’s in the Group A standings.
The results have put Turkey on top of the table with 7 points, followed by Ireland who hold 6 points, Tanzania holding 4 points and Kosovo holding nothing.
On the side of Group B, the Republic of Korea and Albania had already qualified to the semi-final since their second game after double wins in each of their games.
Tanzania lineup included; Miraj Rashid, Thabit Tirshan, Daniel Ndalo, Anyimike Shauri, Ludaki Juma, Abdulrazaq Salum, Omar Abbas, Enzo Genilson, Abubakar Abudallah, Hamis Mohammed and Kassim Ibrahim.
Turkey lineup included; Emre Bilgin, Egemet Tutar, Bugra Cagliyan, Adem Metin, Melih Bostan, Eren Taha, Mevlut Han Ekelik, Ahmet Bugra Guven, Hamza Yigit Akman, Eve Birinci and Yigit Kerem.
