CECAFA
Kenya, Burundi storm Cecafa U-15 Challenge Cup semis
The Kenyan youngsters have booked a place in the semi finals at the 2019 Cecafa U-15 Challenge Cup after a hard fought 2-1 win over hosts Eritrea on Thursday.
Victory sent Kenya to 10 points on the log, while Burundi who have seven points and play their last group game against Sudan on Saturday have also made it to the knock out stage.
Star player Kevin Wangaya Injehu put Kenya in the lead after 26 minutes with a clever dribble past the Eritrean goalkeeper before he slotted the ball in the net.
But the Eritrean team cheered on by the home fans later controlled the game and had several shots stopped by Kenya’s in-form goalkeeper Alvin Odari Lwangu. Eritrea’s Temesgen Tesfay had hit shot hit the wood work before the interval.
In the second half Eritrea stepped up their game before Ahmed Awad leveled matters with a well timed header past Kenya’s advancing goalkeeper. The Stadium went wild after Eritrea’s goal with over 8,000 fans all chanting.
Kenya’s Gil Harel was later rushed to hospital in an ambulance after a collision with an Eritrean player. With two minutes to full time Kenya’s substitute Ibrahim Mone Mwaro netted the winning goal with a rebounding shot. The Kenyan technical bench all run in the field after the final whistle as the home fans walked out in disappointment.
“This has been a tough match and great experience for my boys because they have never played in-front of such a big crowd,” said Kenya’s coach Sagar Lakhani.
Eritrea’s head coach Mekonen Zewde said his team lost because of some mistakes especially in the midfield. “But the boys tried to play good football,” he added.
On Friday Tanzania will face Rwanda, while Uganda take on South Sudan in Group B matches.
Group A standing
P W D L GF GA A Pts
Kenya 4 3 1 0 10 3 7 10
Burundi 3 3 1 0 5 3 2 7
Eritrea 3 1 0 2 8 4 4 3
Somalia 3 1 0 2 4 5 -1 3
Sudan 3 0 0 3 0 12 -12 0