Unlucky: Serengeti Boys fail to break AYC curse

We cant still celebrate: Serengeti Boys players celebrate during a past 2017 African Youth Championship qualifying match. The boys failed to make it to the finals after losing 1-0 to Congo in Brazzaville yesterday. PHOTO | FILE

What you need to know:

  • The gutsy Tanzanian boys were seconds away from securing a ticket to the 2017 finals, but Congo scored an all-important goal in stoppage time to quash Serengeti Boys hopes at the Alphonse Massamba-Débat Stadium in Brazzaville.
  • Serengeti Boys flew to the Congolese capital carrying a 3-2 advantage from the first leg played at the National Stadium a fortnight ago.

Dar es Salaam. The national Under-17 team, Serengeti Boys, could not defy the odds as they failed to qualify for the 2017 African Youth Championship (AYC) finals yesterday.

The gutsy Tanzanian boys were seconds away from securing a ticket to the 2017 finals, but Congo scored an all-important goal in stoppage time to quash Serengeti Boys hopes at the Alphonse Massamba-Débat Stadium in Brazzaville.

Serengeti Boys flew to the Congolese capital carrying a 3-2 advantage from the first leg played at the National Stadium a fortnight ago.

This means Tanzania has been dumped out of the 2017 finals on an away goal rule after tying 3-3 on aggregate.

Tanzania won the first 3-2 in Dar es Salaam and needed just a draw or victory to seal their place in in the finals that will take place in Antananarivo, Madagascar next April. Speaking from Brazzaville, the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) spokesman, Alfred Lucas, said the boys were on course for the finals spot save for a goal in the stoppage time.

“The match was tense throughout out the 90 minutes. Tanzania was a minute away from securing their place in the Madagascar finals, but we were left heartbroken by a late goal,” he said.

In 2005, Serengeti Boys qualified for the finals held in Gambia, but Caf, the African soccer governing body, disqualified them before the tournament kick-off after being found guilty of playing an over-age player-- Nurdin Bakari.

On their way to the inglorious qualification, Tanzania saw off Rwanda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

However, this time around, Serengeti Boys looked assured of making their first appearance in the continental showpiece on fair grounds.

They kicked off their campaign with a 9-0 aggregate win over Seychelles before dispatching South Africa on a 3-1 aggregate to book a date with Congo-Brazzaville.