U17 Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers (CECAFA Region)
Group B
Uganda vs Burundi -1PM
Group A
Ethiopia vs Somalia – 4PM
Uganda U17 Football National Team will start its quest of qualifying for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations on Monday as they take on Burundi.
The Group B fixture is the opening game game of the Regional Qualifiers at the Abebe Bikila stadium in Ethiopia.
The Qualifiers were initially supposed to kickoff on 30th September but had to be postponed due to issues around age cheating with Sudan and Djibouti thrown out.
Rwanda and Eritrea had also earlier withdrawn from the Championship.
Under the stewardship of coach Hamza Lutalo, Uganda will be seeking to come good in the qualification campaign and achieve the ultimate target of making the finals for third successive time.
It should be noted that the finalists at the Zonal Qualifiers represent the region at the final tournament.
Lutalo wants his team to start on a high because that will give them momentum going forward.
” First games in a tournament are never easy but we want to win and get running. We have never faced Burundi at this stage but the players are ready to face any kind of opposition. ” He said.
Bearing in mind that the groups now have only three teams, today’s game is very important according to Lutalo.
“We are now just three teams in the group and that means the first game is crucial. Therefore, our focus is to get the three points and see what happens next.” Lutalo added.
The second game of the day will be between hosts Ethiopia and Somalia.