South Sudan, Somalia book U-17 AFCON slots

_{The national U-17 teams of South Sudan and Somalia have made their own history by qualifying for the TotalEnergies U-17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2023.}

_{Athough the two teams finished second in their respective groups in the Zonal qualifiers for CECAFA, they bundled top ranked sides Tanzania and Uganda at the semi final stage on Wednesday at the Abebe Bikila Stadium in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.}

_{Somalia was the first team to book the ticket after seeing off reigning Zonal champions Uganda 8-7 on penalties after the match had ended 1-1 in 90 minutes.}

_{Jamal Ssemwogere gave Uganda Cubs the lead after 41 minutes, Abdihafid Abdi leveled matters for Somalia two minutes later. After the interval the two teams created several scoring chances, but failed to find the goals. During the penalty shootouts, the Somalia players all converted, while Uganda’s Arafat Nkoola missed his penalty.}

_{The Somalia coach Nur Mohamed Amin said he is happy to make history with the U-17 team and qualify for AFCON. “We now want to win the Cup,” added Amin.}

_{In the second semi final Jonathan Ajoung netted after 36 minutes for South Sudan, but Tanzania made it 1-1 after 71 minutes with a a goal netted by substitute Yassin Manage.}

_{The Serengeti Boys of Tanzania continued to dominate play, but failed to find the goals. The match was decided by penalty kicks with South Sudan winning 4-3. Four South Sudan players converted, while Tanzania’s Yassin Manage and Adolf Hamisi missed.}

_{The play-off and the final will be played on Saturday.The TotalEnergies U-17 AFCON 2023 will be hosted by Algeria.}