No advantaged team in pool B in CECAFA under 18 boys

It is an all-square in Pool B teams who will wait until the last match on Saturday to determine who will qualify for the semifinals of the ongoing CECAFA under 18 boys tournament at the Bukhungu stadium, in Kakamega County.

The four nations, Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan and Zanzibar have all collected three points with no goal difference after two matches played on Wednesday at the same venue.

Each of the four nations has lost and won one match, collecting three points each with no advantaged side ahead of their final pool match.

Uganda, who had lost their opening match to Tanzania, managed to beat Zanzibar, who had won against South Sudan by a solitary goal while Tanzania, who beat Uganda in the opening match 1-0, lost 2-1 to South Sudan to set the ball rolling.

In the last pool B match, Zanzibar defender Nassor Mbarouk scored an own goal to hand Uganda the match-needed victory.

In the match, captain Travis Mutyaba opened the scoring in the 17th minute for Moses Byekwaso Ochama from his left foot shot outside the box beating Zanzibar custodian Mohamed Abdulrasul.

In the 41st minute, Moh'd Ali Moh'd scored his second goal of the tournament to level the score, giving Arqm Zubair a cross with his left foot tap in the box as both teams went into a water break tied 1-all.

On resumption, Zanzibar kept on knocking on Ugandan door without success and on a counterattack, substitute Richard Okello’s cross was turned into the net by Mbarouk to hand Ugandans a 2-1 lead.

Zanzibar head coach Ali Mohammed Ameir said that he still has a chance to improve in the next match.

“We have a chance to redeem ourselves and the loss was due to lack of concentration in the game, which happens with any team,” said Ameir.

His opponent Ochana said that the game was tough victory was what they needed and playing with Tanzania was a ‘more than brotherly’ encounter.

“Playing with Tanzania will be a great match because we know each other very well. This pool is open and the last game will determine the winner, therefore, our focus has now turned to the next match,” said Ochana.

Tanzania head coach Habibu Kondo is beaming with confidence that they will make it to the semifinals despite losing their second match to South Sudan on Wednesday.

Kondo, who rested many of his players on what he described as fatigue, said that a loss was not the end of the journey since they had a game that would redeem their image.

South Sudan which lost their first match to Zanzibar on Sunday came from 1-0 down to win 2-1 to increase their chances to progress into the semifinals.

Tanzanian John Misheto opened the scoring in the 40th minute to give his side a deserving 1-0 after shading off three players in the box to shoot past keeper Benson Nybong into the break.

On resumption, Ngong Garang levelled in the 70th minute from a connecting Mario Taban corner before Christopher Ungom scored the winner after tapping over goalkeeper Anthony Mpemba with his left foot for the ball to roll into the empty net after receiving a pass from Daniel Dang that beat two defenders.

Uganda head coach Habibu Kondo said that as much as they have lost, they still have another final pool match against Zanzibar to redeem their image to the semifinals.

“We are sure of reaching the semifinals and then finals because my boys played with fatigue but we shall recover in the next game,” said Kondo.

He added that his best players were fatigued and they could not click well in the field.

“We had a tough weather challenge but we shall be good enough come next game,” said Kondo.

Winning coach James Ezekiel Ismail was elated with the victory saying that their preparations have given them good friends awaiting the final match.

“It was a well-deserving victory now that we lost in the opening match. This time, we are expecting another victory against Tanzania and match into the semifinals,” said Ismail