Burundi battle Zanzibar in Cecafa Senior Women’s Challenge Cup kick off

The 2019 Cecafa Senior Women’s Challenge Cup kicks-off this afternoon with Burundi taking on Zanzibar in a Group A match at the Chamanzi Stadium in Tanzania. Defending champions and hosts Tanzania will later take on debut making South Sudan in the second game.

Niyibimenya Daniella, the Burundi coach has made it clear that they are hungry to start the tournament with a win. “We cannot underrate any tam here, but our target is to start by collecting maximum points,” added the coach.

But Zanzibar’s coach Mohammed Salahi Richkard has also said they will not be an easy team to beat. “Our team is hungry to win and this opening game means a lot to us,” added the coach.

Nicholas Musonye, Secretary General of the Council of East and Central African Football Associations (Cecafa) has said they expect a very competitive tournament. “I believe the teams have prepared well since we communicated about the tournament some time back,” said Musonye.

He made it clear that it is only by having regular tournaments like this that the women’s teams from the Cecafa region can improve to and compete well with teams from Western Africa like Nigeria.

On Sunday Kenya who were ejected by Zambia in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics qualifier will face Ethiopia, while Uganda Crested Cranes take on Djibouti.

Group A: Tanzania, Burundi, Zanzibar, South Sudan

Group B: Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti