The final games of the 2021 CECAFA Women’s U-20 Championship will take place on November 9^th at the FUFA Technical Centre in Njeru in Uganda.

With nine games already played and 52 goals scored, the last match of the competition between Uganda and Ethiopia will decide which team will win the trophy. But before the deciding match, Burundi will face Eritrea, while Djibouti battle Tanzania.

Uganda and Ethiopia are the only unbeaten teams with 12 points each, although Uganda has a superior goal difference.

On Saturday Ethiopia briefly reclaimed top spot on the log after a 1-0 win against Burundi. Ariet Odong netted the lone goal after 58 minutes after a good cross by Naredos Getenet.

“I am happy that my players have worked hard to win again and we need to work hard and also win our last game against Uganda,” said Ethiopia’s head coach Firew Hailegebral after the match.

Eritrea also registered their first win in the competition after overcoming Djibouti 2-0 in the second match. Defender Rim Gezae Yemane and forward Diana Estifanos Teklemichael netted second half goals for Eritrea. “We shall work hard to try and get another in our last match against Burundi,” said Eritrea’s head coach Jemal Ibrahim Suleman.

The last game saw Uganda pip arch-rivals Tanzania 1-0 in a tough encounter. Skipper Fauzia Najjemba netted a 72^nd penalty to make sure Uganda maintained it’s unbeaten run.

Tanzania’s Christer John Bahera fouled Shamirah Nalugya in the box and the referee pointed for a penalty. Najjemba made no mistake from the spot slotting the ball past Tanzanian goalkeeper Husna Zuberi Mtunda.

Tanzania’s Aisha Elias Masaka and Aisha Juma Mnunka tried to push forward and get the goals, but the Ugandan defenders stood firm.

“I am happy that once again we have registered another win against a strong Tanzanian side. We need to keep working hard and make sure we beat Ethiopia in the last match to be able to win the trophy,” said Uganda’s head coach Ayub Khalifa Kiyingi.

Bakari Shime, the Tanzanian coach said that although his team lost, this tournament is helping the team prepare better ahead of the FIFA Women’s U-20 World Cup qualifiers. “There are many lessons we are learning by playing as many games as possible,” said Shime.

Table standing

                    P    W    D     L     GF    GA    GD   Pts

Uganda       4     4     0      0      21       1      20    12

Ethiopia      4     4     0      0      15       1      14    12

Tanzania     4     2     0      2       5        5       0      6

Burundi      4     1      0      3      9        9       0       3

Eritrea        4      1     0      3      2        8       -6      3

Djibouti     4      0     0       4      0      28     -28      0

After nine matches played at the on-going CECAFA Women’s U-20 Championship, 48 goals have been scored.

Hosts Uganda lead the log in the regional tournament which kicked-off on October 30^th in the Eastern Town of Njeru.

Uganda has scored 20 goals and conceded only one with team captain Fauzia Najjemba leading the scoring chart with nine goals.

Najjemba netted a brace in Uganda’s 5-1 win against Burundi in their opening match, before scoring six goals in the 13-0 humbling of Djibouti. She got her name on the score sheet again on Wednesday when Uganda defeated a hard fighting Eritrean side 2-0.

“ It is always good to score goals and help the team win. We shall keep working hard as a team to be able to win all our matches,” said Najjemba.

Uganda tops the log with a better goal difference than Ethiopia who also have nine points, but have scored 14 goals. Ethiopia’s Ridiet Assrasahang is the second leading scorer at the tournament with 5 goals to her name.

Ethiopia opened their campaign with a 7-0 win against Djibouti, before stopping Eritrea 5-0 and shocking one of the tournament favourites  Tanzania 2-1 in a match played on Wednesday.

While Uganda’s Hadijah Nandago has netted 4 goals, the players with three goals include; Turist Lema (Ethiopia), Clara Cleitus Luvanga (Tanzania), Pascasie Butoyi and Estella Gakima (Burundi).

Action returns on Saturday with Burundi facing Ethiopia in the first match, while the two teams that have not yet registered wins Eritrea and Djibouti will also face-off, and Uganda face Tanzania in what promsies to be a thriller.

Top scorers chart

9 goals – Fauzia Najjemba (Uganda)

5 goals – Ridiet Assrasahang (Ethiopia)

4 goals – Hadijah Nandago

3 goals – Pascasie Butoyi, Estella Gakima (Burundi), Turist Lema (Ethiopia), Clara Cleitus Luvanga (Tanzania)

Table standing

                    P    W    D     L   GF    GA    GD   Pts

Uganda       3     3     0     0     20       1      19      9

Ethiopia     3      3     0     0     14       1      13      9

Tanzania    3      2     0     1      5        4       1      6

Burundi      3     1     0      2      9       8       1       3

Eritrea        3     0     0     3       0       8       -8     0

Djibouti      3     0     0     3       0      26     -26    0

The CECAFA U-20 Women’s Championship will take place October 28^th to November 9^th at the FUFA Technical Centre ground in Njeru, Uganda.

Auka Gecheo, the CECAFA Executive Director confirmed today that six teams will take part in the competition which will be played on a round robin basis.

He confirmed that the nations that have confirmed participation include; Tanzania, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Burundi and hosts Uganda.

Yusuf Mossi, the CECAFA Director of Competitions made it clear that playing on a round robin basis will help the teams play as many matches as possible. “It will will also help the teams that are still playing in the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup qualifiers,” added Mossi.

According to fixture Tanzania will face Eritrea in the opening match, before Djibouti take on Ethiopia and Uganda play Burundi, all on October 28^th.

CECAFA has so far staged three tournaments in the 2021 season. Ethiopia hosted the CECAFA U-23 Men’s Championship in the town of Bahir Dar, before the CECAFA Kagame Club Championship took place in Dar es salaam, Tanzania.

Last month the zonal qualifiers for the TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Champions League took place in Kenya. Djibouti will host the CECAFA Senior Women’s Challenge Cup in December