The Under-17 national team, the Cubs have been eliminated by Somalia from the ongoing CECAFA Zonal Qualifiers for the Total Energies Africa Cup of Nations at Abebe stadium in Ethiopia.
Although Uganda had a top-class performance in the group stages after seeing off Burundi 4-0 before defeating South Sudan 4-1 in the second group B, they failed to use its pedigree as the defending champions to edge the resilient Somalians and ended up missing a slot for the Afcon Finals.
The two sides played a one-all-draw in normal time before Somalia won the tie 8-7 on penalties. Arafat Nkoola missed the eighth penalty for the Cubs and thus bowed out of the prestigious qualifiers.
In action, Uganda got the lead in the 43rd minute through Jamal Ssemwogerere but it didn’t last long before Abdihafid Abdi equalized for Somalia in the 45th minute. The two teams failed to add on either score which took the game to spot kicks and ended in Somalia’s favor.
The tournament is serving as the region’s qualifier for the U-17 African Cup of Nations with the two finalists earning direct qualification to the continental showpiece, which will be held in Algeria in April 2023. Therefore, Somalia has already booked a slot for the AFCON Finals.
Somalia will now play South Sudan which also defeated Tanzania in the second semi-final, but the two teams have already booked their slots to represent the CECAFA region in the final tournament in Algeria next year.
Speaking at the Post Match press conference, Uganda Cubs Head Coach Hamza Lutalo said his team did their best but the game became difficult when they failed to win it in normal play and went into shootouts, which they had no control over whatsoever.
Lutalo said that they will now go back and groom other lads because these specific players will not be eligible to play in the Under-17 competitions in the upcoming qualifiers.
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