Ethiopia are the winners of the regional CECAFA Women’s U-20 Championship which climaxed in Njeru, Uganda today.

Coach Firew Hailegebral’s team fought back from two goals down and a player-less to stop Uganda 3-2 in the final match.

The win saw Ethiopia finish top of the log with 15 points in the tournament played on a League format basis among the six teams.

After 6 minutes Ethiopia’s goalkeeper Lorato Eyerusalem was sent-off for a foul on Uganda’s captain Fauzia Najjemba. The Ethiopian technical bench made a quick switch and brought on Demelash Banchayehu in goal as a player was sacrificed.

But after 26 minutes Hadijah Nandago gave Uganda the lead before skipper Fauzia Najjemba made it 2-0 after 40 minutes with a free-kick that Banchayehu failed to punch out of danger.

After the break, the Ethiopian side returned hungry for goals and Ridet Assrasahang pulled one back after 50 minuntes.

Substitute Ariet Odong made it 2-2 after 78th minutes before Ethiopia’s coach Hailegebral was sent off by the referee. But the Ethiopian team did not give up and scored the winning goal through Turist Lema after 82 minutes.

“This has been a very tough game and I thank my team for remaining strong headed even after we got an early red card,” said Ethiopia’s coach Hailegebral after the match.

Naredos Getenet, Ethiopia’s skipper said it was determination and team work that won them the trophy. “Even after going a player down, we decided to keep pushing hard,” added Getenet.

Yusuf Mossi, the CECAFA Competitions Director said he was happy with the level of play. “This competition has been very competitive and helped the teams still playing in the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup qualifiers prepare well,” added Mossi.

Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi, Uganda’s Former Vice President and Presidential Advisor was the chief guest during the final match and the Awards ceremony. Dr. Donald Rukare, the Chairman of the National Council of Sports (NCS) and President of the Uganda Olympic Committee (UOC) also graced the Awards ceremony.

Final table standing

                    P    W    D     L     GF    GA   GD   Pts

Ethiopia      5     5     0      0      18       3      15    15

Uganda       5     4     0      1      23       4      19    12

Tanzania    5     3     0      2      13        5       8      9

Burundi      5     2      0      3     11      10       1      6

Eritrea        5      1     0      4      3       10      -7      3

Djibouti      5      0     0      5      0      36      -36     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