Kenya face a stern test against Tanzania in the semifinals of the ongoing Cecafa U18 Boys Championship in Kisumu City on Tuesday.
In the other semi-final, Group ‘B’ winners Uganda will face Rwanda. Kenya finished top of Group ‘A’ with a maximum of nine points and 10 goals from wins over Sudan (5-0), Rwanda (1-0) and Somalia (4-1).
Rwanda were second in Group 'A' while a 2-0 over South Sudan on Saturday propelled Uganda to the top of Group 'B'.
Tanzania and Zanzibar played to a 1-1 draw in their last group match, which left them tied on four points each while scoring and conceding the same number of goals.
Fair Play criterion was used to separate the two with Tanzania's discipline giving the edge. They had four yellow cards as opposed to Zanzibar's five.
According to the rules of the competition (regulation 3.6) teams are ranked according to the points, head-to-head, goal difference between the concerned teams, goals scored, fair play, and eventually, a toast.
Kenya’s head coach Salim Babu on Sunday said his charges are ready for the battle against Tanzania and asked Kenyan fans to turn up in large numbers to cheer the home boys.
He, however, declined to field questions, saying: “We passed rules here that we shall only give post-match interviews. Thank you.”
Meanwhile, Byekwaso Ochama, the Uganda head coach, said he is happy with their performance against South Sudan and is now focusing on their semifinal against Rwanda.
“We now need to prepare well ahead of our semifinal match against Rwanda,” added Byekwaso.
The play-off to determine the third team and the final will be played on December 8 in Kisumu City.
