Harambee Stars are determined to finish on a high by winning the third place play-off match of 2019 Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup against Tanzania on Thursday afternoon, coach Francis Kimanzi has said.
At the same time, hosts Uganda and Eritrea will battle it out in the final at the same venue from 4pm.
Defending champions Kenya were humbled 4-1 by Eritrea on Tuesday in the semi-finals but Kimanzi has said the players have put that result behind them and are focused on doing the job against Tanzania.
Today’s match will be a repeat of Group ‘B’ match which Harambee Stars won 1-0.
“We lost a match that we should have won but that happens in football at times. What matters most is how we recover and I think we are ready for the game. We beat them at the group stage and psychologically that gives us an upper hand but we have to do better during the match itself,” Kimanzi told Nation Sport.
Western Stima custodian Samuel Odhiambo is still expected to start between the sticks despite the calamitous goalkeeping against Eritrea in the semi with Kimanzi revealing that Timothy Odhiambo, the only other goalkeeper with the team in Uganda for the tournament is injured. The tactician also says he is satisfied with the performance of the team.
“Timothy is injured as well as the Timothy Otieno the striker. The two have not played in this tournament because they are injured and I think it is important to clarify that. Andrew Juma is also down with flu while Kevin Kimani picked a knock against Eritrea. Apart from those, the rest of the players are ready to face Tanzania,” Kimanzi said on Wednesday.
“Given time, this team can get better. I am satisfied with their performance and as a technical bench we have achieved our objective of analysing some of the players we had second thoughts on. The biggest lesson we have picked here is that it is important to participate in these tournaments no matter the magnitude as they help in building teams and identifying new players and realising their potential at a competitive stage. If we were to play in another tournament in the near future, we have a foundation to build on,” he added.
Hosts Uganda and Eritrea will battle it out in the final at the same venue from 4pm. Cranes have won the trophy a record 14 times and coach Johnny McKinstry has urged his charges to rewrite history by picking a 15th title. “Everyone talks about how Uganda has had a successful history in the region, but that’s not these boys, only Mutyaba (Muzamir) has picked up the Cecafa title before so you have 19 other young guys who have never picked up a trophy for the national team, and a number of guys who until two weeks ago had never played for the Cranes,” McKinstry told Ugandan portal Football256.
He has also warned the Cranes players not to underrate Eritrea.
“Regardless of who wins, I think it’s fair to say that the Eritreans performance throughout the tournament has been deserving of a team of the tournament accolade if you like. To date, we are the only team to beat them, but they convincingly beat Kenya. And we know it will be a very difficult game because they will give their best and therefore we need to be at our absolute best if we are to win,” he added.
Eritrea coach Efrem Haile Alemseghed is optimistic his side will win the title. The team lost 2-0 to Uganda at the group stage but Haile says this will be a different game altogether.
“We took time and studied the Kenyan team before we beat them in the semis. Now we have also studied the Ugandan team well and know how we shall approach that. The best Eritrea has performed before in the tournament is reaching the semi-final in 2004. Now we are in the final and need to win,” he is quoted as saying by the Eritrean National Football Federation.
The winner takes home a trophy and Sh3 million in prize money while the runner-up will bag Sh2 million. The third-place side will be awarded Sh1 million.
