CECAFA U-23 Challenge Cup: What the coaches say after the group stage

The CECAFA U-23 Challenge Cup group stage climaxed on July 24th with nine matches played in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. The coaches had this to say.

Kim Poulsen (Head Coach, Tanzania)

We are very happy to qualify for the semi finals because our preparations were close to zero since the Tanzania Premier League has just ended. We were also in a very tough group and we surely battled strongly to make it to the next stage.
I think Uganda also deserved to be in the semi final because they play well. We shall not underrate our opponents South Sudan who we face in the semi final. We shall have to approach the semi final match very differently.

Morley Byekwaso (Head Coach, Uganda)

I thank the boys because for the fighting spirit they have showed in the two matches. We created several scoring chances in this tournament, but did not use them well. But it’s a good experience for my young team as we still have two more classification matches.
We need to prepare our teams for the future and this tournament is good to try out players.

Julien Mette (Head Coach, Djibouti)

Ofcourse it is not good to see us failing to win or even score a single goal. But I am happy that the young players have got more exposure from the two matches we played against Kenya and South Sudan. It is from such matches that players get more experience and can be able to improve.

Simon James Yor (Head Coach, South Sudan)

Qualifying for the semi final is very good for my players because it means they have more competitive matches to play and this will help them to develop and become better players. We know the Tanzanian team that we face in the semi final is strong, but we shall prepare well for them.

Wubetu Abate Wubetu (head Coach, Ethiopia)

I am not happy with the way my players played the two group games where we picked draws. We need to improve as a team to take our chances and always shoot at goal instead of holding onto the ball and lack that final finish. But the tournament is good for testing and improving our young players.

Jimmy Ndayizeye (Head Coach, Burundi)

I am impressed with the concentration of my players and we hope they can keep focused for the game against Kenya. We have brought some of our young players from Europe to be tested in this tournament and am happy with the progress. Facing Kenya will not be easy because they have showed they are strong by winning their two games in the pool.

Jean Claude Loboko (Head Coach, DR Congo)

Although we failed to qualify for the semi finals, we are happy that the young players are getting the much needed experience from this tournament. Yes we have been good at creating many scoring chances, but finishing remains our problem.

Stanley Khayo Okumbi (Head Coach, Kenya)

Five goals and two wins makes us happy as the technical bench. But we need to tune out minds and prepare well ahead of the tough match against Burundi. Although we have won all our two games in the group stage, I believe we still have to improve on some aspects.

Yohannes Tesfay Giday (Assistant Coach, Eritrea)

Although we failed to win a single game in the group stage, this has been a good outing for the players. We shall try to field players who have not got a lot of playing time in the remaining two classification matches.