The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)
Majuto Omary
8 December 2011
Dar es Salaam — Kilimanjaro Stars head coach Charles Mkwasa was left scratching his head after his side lost 3-1 to Uganda at the National Stadium yesterday.
The defeat means Uganda have dethroned the defending champions to set up what promises to be a lively clash between the 11-time champions and Rwanda’s Amavubi tomorrow.
Kilimanjaro Stars took an early lead in the first half through Mrisho Ngasa after he outsmarted the Cranes’ defence to poke the ball past hapless Abbey Dhaira.The goal set up a contest that went into half time with Kilimanjaro Stars in the lead.
Upon resumption, the Cranes went on the offensive and got a corner that was headed in by skipper Andrew Mwesigwa, leaving the Stars defence stranded.The goal setup an end-to-end thriller as both teams piled on pressure in search for a winning goal inside regulation time that never came.With teams deadlocked at full time, extra time came calling as the teams started off from where they stopped.
Kilimanjaro Stars will however have themselves to blame after Musa Hassan Mgosi failed to head in with the goal at his mercy.The miss was later to haunt the Stars as the Cranes took the lead after Emmanuel Okwi headed in a Danny Wagaluka cross to send the National Stadium into a sombre mood.
After the goal, Kilimanjaro Stars tried to pile pressure on the Ugandans and against the round of play, the Cranes earned a penalty, which was easily converted by Isaac Isinde.Rwanda, who are yet to win the Cecafa Tusker Challenge Cup go into the finals with a 100 per cent record in the tournament after winning all their games enroute to the finals.
Kilimanjaro Stars will now have to settle for a third-place playoff against Sudan who lost earlier on in the day to Rwanda.Rwanda kicked off the match energetically, raiding the Sudan goal in their quest to score an early goal.
Their relentless attacks paid dividends barely five minutes into the game when Jean Claude Iranzi beat the offside trick to slot the ball home.Unperturbed by the goal, the Sudanese reorganised themselves with Mohamed Tahir Osman and Nazar Hamid Nassir pulling the strings from the midfield.Sudan came close to levelling the score midway through the first half through Ramadhan Agab, but his sizzling shot just went off target.
Rwanda, who resorted to counterattacks, looked dangerous whenever they poured forward, but Sudan stood firm to keep their opponents at bay.The Amavubi went for the halftime break with a wafer-thin advantage, but after the resumption, Sudan looked the better side, but lack of precision in front of the goal cost them dearly.
Rwanda regained their rhythm after the hour mark and pinned their victims in their own half for a better part of the remaining minutes. Olivier Karekezi, Meddie Kagere and Haruna Niyonzima came almost one-on-one with the Sudan shot-stopper severally, but could not convert their chances.
As the Amavubi were in the ascendancy, Sudan made good use of remote chance in the 67th minute when Agab’s bicycle kick gave the Rwanda goalie no chance.However, their celebrations lasted for 10 minutes only when Karekezi and Kagere combined well before the former scored from a difficult angle.
Line up
Kilimanjaro
Juma Kaseja, Shomari Kapombe, Juma Jabu/Ibrahim Mwaipopo, Juma Nyoso, Erasto Nyoni, Shaaban Nditi, Nurdin Bakari, Mwinyi Kazimoto, Mrisho Ngassa, Hussein Javu, Ramadhan Chombo
The Cranes: Abby Dhaira, Simeon Masaba, Godfrey Walusimbi, Isaac Isinde, Andy Mwesigwa, Mussa Mude, Tonny Mawejje, Sulla Matovu, Danny Wagaluka, Mike Sserumaga, Hamis Kiiza and Emmanuel Okwi.
AllAfrica – All the Time