Kenya will be up against Ethiopia in her third match of the 2018 CECAFA Women Championships on Wednesday, July 25, 2018, at the Stade Regional Nyamirambo.
Starlets have picked up a point from their opening two matches of the five-nation tournament and will be hoping to make amends against Ethiopia, who edged out hosts Rwanda 3-0 on Monday.
“We created a number of chances against Uganda and Tanzania and were unlucky not to win. My players, however, are pumped up for the remaining matches and I am confident that we will get positive results,” said coach David Ouma ahead of the match.
Starlets will wind up the tourney, played in a round robin format, with a match against hosts Rwanda on Friday, July 27, 2018.
Hosts Rwanda takes on rivals Uganda in a must-win encounter if they are to retain chances of winning this year’s CECAFA Women Challenge Cup at Stade de Kigali.
Rwanda, ranked fourth on the standings with three points in two matches face leaders Uganda who have played three matches, won two and lost once to amass six points.
Rwanda lost their second game on Monday 0-3 to Ethiopia who sit third on the standings with three points while Uganda was also thrashed 1-4 by Tanzania who are second on the log with four points.
Ethiopia dominated the game, thanks to poor goalkeeping and shaky defence of the home side. Meselu Abera Tesfamariam, Alemnesh Geremew Asefa and Senaf Wakuma were on target with one goal each to ensure a deserved victory for Coach Kebede Selamawit Zeray’s side.
“We lost (to Ethiopia) because we failed to maintain our game plan. We gave them too much space. But that is done now, we can’t let that nightmare determine our result against Uganda on Wednesday, we need to pick ourselves up and mean serious business,” coach Kayiranga told the media in a post-match press conference on Monday.
Going into Wednesday’s crucial game against Uganda, Kayiranga said, “No hope is lost, we are still able to win the tournament if we can win all our remaining games – and it is possible. To achieve it, we have to be tight in defense and be more efficient in attack,”
After Uganda’s big loss to defending champions Tanzania on Monday and Ethiopia’s bounce-back to defeat Rwanda, the race for the Cecafa Women Challenge Cup title was thrown wide open.
If Uganda does not pick up at least a point in the final match with Rwanda on Wednesday, any of the four teams can win the championship.
Uganda would kill it off with victory over Rwanda but that being easier said than done, thrills for the title race could extend to the last day on Friday at the Stade de Kigali in Nyamirambo where Ethiopia will face Tanzania while Rwanda will face Kenya.
Uganda’s Crested Cranes Coach Faridah Bulega still has optimism of taking the title.
“We shall still be focused and are looking forward to win the last match against Rwanda. We base our confidence on the fact that we have six points. In this match (Tanzania), the girls tried their best but it was not on our day. We have learnt from the errors we have made today (Monday). We are here to compete with every team that comes our way. We shall do our best in the last game. We shall fight for glory.”
In an earlier game, Kenya faces Tanzania at 2pm at Stade de Kigali. Kenya ranked bottom of the standings with a point needs a win to bounce back into the title contention.
The tournament is played on a round robin basis. The top placed Nation with highest number of points collected will be crowned Champions.