Saturday
Group A
Rwanda 2-1 Tanzania
Kenya 0 – 0 Zanzibar
Friday
Group B
Uganda 5-1 South Sudan
Rwanda national team ‘Amavubi’ return home on Sunday empty handed after failing to reach the semi-finals of the ongoing CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup tournament in Kenya.
On a positive not however, Antoine Hey’s team managed to exit the tournament with a win after defeating Tanzania 2-1 in their final group A match on Saturday at Machako Stadium.
Victory in what was a ‘meaningless’ match, following back-to-back defeats against Kenya 2-0 and Zanzibar 3-1 before a goalless draw against Libya 0-0, meant that Amavubi finished with 4 points from four matches.
Tanzania, who are bottom of the group with a solitary point, will face hosts Kenya in their last group match on Tuesday, while Zanzabar will be up against Libya, who dropped to 4th place with 3 points.
Kenya (5 points) drew 0-0 with group leaders Zanzibar (7 points) yesterday, to leave both teams on position to advance to the last four.
Amavubi forward Innocent Nshuti gave the national side the lead in the 27th minute, connecting with a clever pass from Fitina Ombalenga from the right wing.
But the lead lasted barely three minutes before Tanzania equalized through Ayub Lyanga and when it looked like another draw was on the cards for the two sides, forward Abeddy Biramahire netted the winning goal for Rwanda in the 65th minute from another good cross from Ombalenga.
After the match, Amavubi head coach Hey said: “We wanted to end on a positive note and try to win. I am happy that several players got a new chance to impress.”
“The door to the CHAN Team is still open. We came here expecting to see good individual performances from this tournament,” Hey noted as he now turns attention to CHAN 2018 Morocco finals.
Meanwhile, Uganda rose to the top of Group B after thrashing South Sudan 5-1 at the Bukhungu Stadium in Kakamega on Friday thanks to goals from Milton Karisa, Hood Kaweesa, Nicholas Wadada and Derrick Nsibambi, who scored a double. South Sudan got the consolation goal from Atak Lual.
Uganda tops Group B on four points, leapfrogging Burundi on goal difference. Ethiopia have three points, while South Sudan are bottom and were eliminated from semifinal contention.