Cecafa glory in sight for ambitious TZ boys

Dar es Salaam. The Under-17 national soccer team, Serengeti Boys, underlined their quest for the 2018 Cecafa Championship title with a 2-1 win over Kenya in Bujumbura, Burundi on Wednesday.

Serengeti Boys will now face Somalia in the final of the regional youth championship on Sunday.

Somalia booked a place in the final after squeezing a 1-0 win against Uganda in another semi-final at Gitega Stadium.

Fast-rising striker Jafar Juma and Kelvin Paul scored a goal apiece to give Serengeti Boys the victory they needed to progress to the final.

In their way to the semi-finals, the Tanzanian boys ran riot by flattening Sudan 6-0 in their final Group B match at Muyinga Stadium on Sunday.

Somali, on the other hand, stunned Kenya 1-0 in their final Group A match to top the pool with seven points, three better than their Kenyan counterparts.

Somalia’s race to the top was aided by Ethiopia’s fielding of three over age players, which led to the reversal of a 3-1 opening loss in their favour.

They followed up on the awarded win with a barren draw against Burundi.

Until Sunday, Uganda had been the presumptive Group B winners, having picked up four points after a 1-1 draw with Serengeti Boys and a 3-0 win over Sudan.

But Poulsen’s boys had other ideas, posting more than just a win that would have seen them progress, thereby relegating Uganda to second spot.

Uganda, winners of the last U17 Cecafa competition back in 2009, failed to contain surprise Pool A winners Somalia in yesterday’s semi-final.

Kenya and Uganda will face off in the losers’ final tomorrow, a day before the final.