Seven years after its inaugural edition in Uganda in 2019, the Cecafa U-17 Women Championship returned – in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania – over the weekend.
But with Uganda eliminated from the Fifa U-17 Women’s World Cup (WWC) Qualifiers by Kenya on the away goals rule (after a 1-all draw) last month and Tanzania also eliminated 2-0 on aggregate by South Africa at the same time in the penultimate qualification stage, one cannot help but feel that Cecafa have put the cart before the horse in this case.
When Uganda and Kenya met, both sides clearly had deficiencies. Kenya were a far cry from the team that qualified for the 2014 U-17 WWC in the Dominican Republic. They did not have the pace of old on the wings, could barely control the game, and struggled to bring their physicality to the fore.
Uganda paid dearly for their profligacy in front of goal and naivety in defence that coach Sheryl Botes argued could be resolved by playing more competitive games.
A regional tournament in preparation for the qualifiers, rather than this one that has come after some sides have been eliminated from the World Cup chase, would surely do all those involved a great deal of good.
All of the Cecafa representatives had to prepare for those qualifiers without test matches. Kenyan coach Mildred Cheche decried the fact that the majority of her side had to come from school straight into high-stake games while Botes barely had a week to prepare as she was also involved with the U-20 side Queen Cranes.
Suffice to note that in the opening round of the U-17 qualifiers, Uganda eliminated Zimbabwe 6-1 on aggregate, Tanzania beat Botswana 6-2, and Kenya beat Namibia 7-1 while Burundi eliminated Malawi 4-2, and Ethiopia beat fellow Cecafa side South Sudan 8-0.
Iron sharpens iron
Cecafa could argue that their teams – bar Rwanda which lost 4-1 on aggregate at that opening stage to Zambia – have largely eliminated Cosafa sides this time and in the past despite the latter region having had six editions of their U-17 tournaments since 2019.
In fact Uganda and Tanzania won the first two Cosafa U-17 tourneys in 2019 and 2020 respectively as invited teams.
Granted that the tournaments might not be the only answer but iron sharpens iron and Cecafa sides will definitely get better by playing against each other.
‘I come from Cosafa where we have these tournaments consistently but I am happy that Cecafa is back,’ the South African coach, Botes, said.
‘I think there was a lapse in the past. I am seeing some of these teams for the first time in my life. These girls need competitions and hope this happens on a consistent basis then we can also start thinking of the best in this region playing the best in Cosafa, West Africa, and the northern region because the only time the girls get to play Ghana is in the qualifiers and they get a shock of their lives,’ Botes added.
Game model
Meanwhile, in the final U-17 WWC Qualification round, Kenya meets South Africa while Ethiopia take on Zambia. Ethiopia, like in 2019, have skipped the ongoing Cecafa tourney in Tanzania but held Uganda to a 3-3 home draw last Thursday.
Liday Eaysu and Mairhat Aeyel scored for the hosts in the first and eighth minute but Uganda responded through goals from Joan Namakula and Martha Babirye. Ethiopia restored their lead through Eaysu to lead 3-2 at the break but Flavia Yagala found an equalizer later in the second half to secure a 3-3 draw before Uganda moved to Dar-es-Salaam.
Uganda got its Cecafa title defence started in style with a 13-0 win over the hapless Djibouti. Yagala was again among the goals long after opening efforts from Justine Ayerango and Lydia Namaseruka’s penalty.
Ayerango would add another to find a brace just like Immaculate Acen while Shadia Nabirye led with a hattrick. Tracy Nabalanzi, Rashidah Nakalema, Vicky Atyeronimungu, and Brenda Nassaka got one apiece as Uganda went to the top of Group B despite South Sudan’s 1-0 win over Zanzibar following Seber Amou’s late goal.
‘It is not always about the score but the performances. All these are small building blocks towards a game model and every time you could see that there are small positives coming through,’ Botes said in the aftermath.
‘We struggled in Ethiopia because of the altitude but we managed to come back twice (to level the game). In the World Cup qualifiers, we had a challenge of scoring goals and we have been working extensively on how dynamic we can become and what combinations we can have when we get to the final third.
‘Our transitions are quicker, we had wing play, and we could find each other. This will give the girls confidence and hopefully that will still be there in the next game,’ Botes said.
Cecafa U-17 Women Championship
Group A
Kenya 16-0 Sudan
Tanzania 4-0 Somalia
Group B
South Sudan 1-0 Zanzibar
Uganda 13-0 Djibouti
Next Fixtures – Tuesday, KMC Stadium
Zanzibar vs. Uganda, 1pm
Djibouti vs. South Sudan, 4pm