Serengeti Boys set sights on Rwanda competition

Serengeti Boys are in Group A together with Nigeria, Guinea and Uganda. PHOTO| MAJUTO OMARY

What you need to know:

  • Tanzanians will take on hosts, Rwandans, in the first match, and in the second encounter against Cameroon

Dar es Salaam. Serengeti Boys are scheduled to play two matches in Kigali, Rwanda, early next month in a buildup tournament ahead of Afcon finals that would be held in Tanzania next month. The Kigali tournament for U-17s will also feature Cameroon and the host Rwanda.

Tanzania Football Federation technical director Ammy Ninje told The Citizen yesterday that the team would take on hosts Rwandans in the first match, and in the second encounter against Cameroon.

Ninje said after playing the two international matches Serengeti Boys would come back to the Afcon finals where they will take on Nigeria in the opening match on April 14.

“The exact date for the Rwanda match will be known later, and the team will camp in Doha, Qatar, before travelling to Kigali, ahead of the competition dubbed a three-nation Under 17 mini-tournament.”

After the Kigali tournament, which has been organised by the Rwanda Football Federation, the team will return to Tanzania. Serengeti Boys are in Group A together with Nigeria, Guinea and Uganda. The youngsters will face Angola on April 17 in the second match.

They will then take on Uganda in what will be their final group stage match. Group B comprises of Guinea, Cameroon, Morocco and Senegal.

Expectations are high that Serengeti Boys will make history in the tournament and later compete in the U-17 Fifa World Cup to be held in Peru in October.

The Fifa U-17 World Cup, founded originally as the Fifa U-16 World Championship, later changed to its current name in 2007, is the world championship of association football for male players under the age of 17.

The Fifa U-17 World Cup is a competition that was inspired by the Lion City Cup that was created by the Football Association of Singapore in 1977. The Lion City Cup was the first under-16 football tournament in the world. Following Fifa’s then secretary-general Sepp Blatter’s recommendation after he was in Singapore for the 1982 Lion City Cup, Fifa created the Fifa U-16 World Championship.