Uganda defeated Tanzania 3-1 to retain the regional Council of East and Central African Football Associations (CECAFA) U-17 title.
The final of the competition, which also served as qualifiers to the Total U-17 Africa Cup of Nations, Morocco 2021, was played at the Umuganda Stadium in Rubavu, Rwanda on Tuesday.
Omari Yahaya almost gave Tanzania an early lead, but his shot bounced off the woodwork.
Uganda’s leading scorer Oscar Mawa also had a chance to get his name on the score sheet and add his seventh goal of the tournament but missed the target by inches.
After a goalless first half, Ivan Irinimbabazi nodded to make it 1-0 for Uganda after 63 minutes. A well taken free kick by Vincent Mulema was well met by Irinimbabazi to give his team the lead.
Tanzania tried to fight back but failed to break the Ugandan defense. It was soon to become 2-0 for Uganda when Travis Mutyaba dribbled past three defenders and sent a low shot past Tanzania’s goalkeeper Abdallah Hassani.
Tanzania halved the deficit on 88 minutes when Ugandan defender cleared the ball into his own net. But two minutes later, Uganda had a penalty after defender Omari Yahaya brought down Mutyaba in the box. Skipper Ibrahim Juma stepped up and converted to make it 3-1.
“I am glad the players have achieved our objectives, which were to qualify for the U-17 AFCON and retain the CECAFA trophy,” said Uganda head coach Hamuza Lutalo after the final.
Earlier, Ethiopia thrashed 10-man Djibouti 5-2 to win the bronze medal.
Ugandan Mutyaba was voted Player of the Tournament, while his teammate Oscar Mawa won the Top Scorer award on six goals. Tanzania’s Sylvester Otto picked the Fair Play Award and Uganda’s Henry Mwebe was voted Best Goalkeeper.
The competition attracted six teams, namely Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya and hosts Rwanda.
