Somalia have kick started their TotalEnergies CAF U-17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) CECAFA qualifiers with a draw against Tanzania.
The 2022 Zonal champions held Tanzania to a 1-1 draw in an explosive Group C match played on Monday at the Kigali Pele Stadium.
Abdikarin Abdulkadir netted the fastest goal in the tournament giving Somalia a 1-0 lead after 1 minute. But the Tanzanian side reorganized and started to dictate the pace of the game.
After 24 minutes Tanzania were awarded a penalty after Ikram Yahaya was brought down in the box. Skipper Elick Yusuph made no mistake from the spot to level matters 1-1.
The two teams continued to create several scoring opportunities in the fast paced match, but the defenders and goalkeepers stood firm.
Somalia’s head coach Dadir Amin Ali praised his team for the good fight against a strong Tanzanian side. “Playing against a good team like Tanzania is not very easy. I am happy we managed to pick a point, now we prepare for our last match group match against Kenya,” added Ali.
The Tanzania coach Elieneza Nicolaus Nsanganzelu said that his team was not very sharp at goal after creating many scoring opportunities. “Let us continue working hard because we still have more matches to come,” added the coach.
The draw for Tanzania means that no team has yet qualified for the semi-final stage. All the teams that will advance to the semis will be decided on October 14th when the last group matches will be played.
On Wednesday Somalia will face Kenya in a Group C tie, while Ethiopia battle Uganda in Group B, and Sudan take on Rwanda in a Group A encounter.
The semi-final matches will be played on October 17th, while the play-off for third place and final will be played on October 19th. The best three teams will qualify to represent the CECAFA Zone at the 2027 TotalEnergies CAF U-17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
Source: CECAFA
