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Serengeti Boys in do-or-die AYC showdown

Serengeti Boys striker Baraka Yusuf controls the ball during a past match. He is among players the national Under-17 team banks on for goals in today’s African Youth Championship qualifier against South Africa. PHOTO| COURTESY OF BIN ZUBEIRY     

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“There is great belief in the players. We will give everything that we have and hopefully we will notch up the results we need to make it to the next round,” Omary told this paper by phone from Johannesburg yesterday.

Dar es Salaam. Serengeti Boys head coach, Hababuu Omary, has urged his lads to go for broke when they go head-to-head with South Africa’s Amajimbos in the second leg of the African Youth Championship (AYC) qualifier at the Dobsonville Stadium, Soweto today.

“There is great belief in the players. We will give everything that we have and hopefully we will notch up the results we need to make it to the next round,” Omary told this paper by phone from Johannesburg yesterday.

“We are capable of winning this game and we are going to give it our best,” he added.

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The national Under-17 team has been in South Africa since Tuesday, perfecting their tactics in Soweto for what promises to be a nail biting encounter.

The two outfits battled to a barren draw in the first leg at the Azam Complex in Dar es Salaam two weeks ago, and victory for Serengeti Boys will see them book a date with the winner of the Congo/Egypt encounter.

The junior Pharaohs squeezed a 1-0 win over Congo in the first leg in Cairo a fortnight ago and the second leg takes place in Brazzaville today.

A draw of goals will also be enough for Omary’s lads to make it to the final qualifying round of the continental tournament.

Serengeti Boys’ dependable striker Athanas Mdamu had similar views, adding he and his teammates were in high spirits, looking forward to silence the Amajimbos at their own backyard.

“We are here to finish off the job. Our coach has addressed the weaknesses he noted during the first leg,” he said.

But Omary and his lads should not expect a win on a silver platter as Amajimbos head coach, Molefi Ntseki has warned that nothing will stop them from progressing to the next stage.

“There have been too many good stories with regards to South African football lately and we don’t want to disappoint the fans on Saturday (today).

“We are celebrating the appointment of Bra Shakes Mashaba as the senior national team coach, the Under-20s are doing well in West Africa, Banyana Banyana have just qualified for the African Women Championships in Namibia and Safa have had several and successful junior tournaments.

“These are all good stories and we want Amajimbos to add to this excitement,” said Ntseki.

Ntseki said his side has been enjoying their football of late having beaten both Botswana and Lesotho in friendly matches.

“We could easily have come away from Tanzania with a win but we wasted some glorious chances. I am very positive we will finish off the job on Saturday.

“My only appeal to the fans is to come in their numbers to give the boys the support. In Tanzania, there were many fans that came to support their boys and we hope to see the same on Saturday,” said Ntseki.

The African Youth Championships will take place in Niger next March/April and the top four teams will qualify for the Fifa Under-17 World Cup in Chile next year.

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