South Sudan and Zanzibar are beaming with confidence ahead of their second Cecafa Under 18 football tournament match set for Wednesday at the Bukhungu stadium in Kakamega County in pool B matches.
Speaking during their training base at the Kakamega High school grounds on Tuesday afternoon, the two nations’ coaches and captains said that their second match will determine their fate into the semifinals.
South Sudan captain Silver Modor Mabok said that despite losing their opening match against Zanzibar by a solitary goal scored by Mohammed Ali, they are ready to bounce back and face nemesis Tanzania in their second fixtures at the same venue.
The young players who turns up for Al Hilal FC in Juba said that the first game was good, giving it all but the results did not belong to them.
“That is behind us and we have to focus on the next game and do our best,” said Mabok.
As a young player, he said that playing in such tournaments is very exciting and prepares them to be professional players in future.
“As the youth, we have hope of turning professionals in the future. I expect more tournaments like these to come in future to help players,” he said.
His coach James Ezekiel Ismail was full of confidence that they would bounce back with victory.
“Our past games we played very well. Our players played very well. Even though we lost, it was not the end as we are preparing well for the next game. The preparations have been good and we are embraced. The boys are ready morally to play and all will be fine,” said Ismail, adding that they have skills on how to defeat Tanzania.
“We saw in their past games how they played and now we understand how they play and then we put some effort in that part and for our part we shall do well,” said Ismail.
Zanzibar head coach Ali Mohammed Ameir has put up their spirited effort to record back to back wins when they face Uganda, who lost their first match on Sunday to Tanzania by a solitary goal.
Ameir said that their preparations have been going on well for the next match.
“We won the first match but we counted it as part of our training. In the first game, we had weather challenges because we are not used to it but now we are used to it hoping to play well. Tomorrow’s (Wednesday) match, the game will be tough, playing against Uganda who lost their opening match and their live will depend on our game but our tickets to semifinals, they have it. We are ready to face them head on,” said Ameir.
He added that he has not faced many challenges apart from the weather condition they faced in the first two days.
“The only challenges we underwent were during the first two days of arrival but now we are used to it,” he said.
He said that he is looking up for finals not the semifinals.
“For us we are looking at the finals not the semifinals. What brought us here is to play at the finals but these other matches are just part of training,” he said.
The Captain Saeed Mohammed Salim, who plays for Young Africans (YANGA) said that even though they won their opening match, it is their turn to ensure that they win in their next match.
“We thank God for winning our first match against South Sudan 1-0. The game was so tough but we managed to win. All the players are good and today, we are done with training ahead of tomorrow’s game against Uganda, which will be a tough match because it will determine who will qualify into the semifinals,” he said.
Salim added that the game will also be tough on Ugandans who will also determine their fate.
“Our coach has been good for us in training and doing well in training. I want to urge all our fans to turn up in large numbers and we shall play good football,” said Salim.
Pool B matches at Bukhungu stadium, Kakamega
- Tanzania vs South Sudan
- Zanzibar vs Uganda