CECAFA Cup Final Pre-Match Analysis Eritrea v Uganda

Eritrea in a Final Show-Down Against Uganda, the Defending Champion, in the CECAFA U-20 Final

By Alula Abraha

It’s remembered that Eritrean young guns, the Red Sea boys, shrugged off Rwanda 1-0 in the semi-final. Like Rwanda, Kenya was the other casualty of the other semi-final at the expense of the defending champions, Uganda. In fact Kenya were in the lead but Uganda came back from behind to hurt the Harambe-boys. It was Kenya’s second consecutive defeat. Kenya lost 1-0 in its last group match against the host Eritrea in a rainy day and finished runner-up to Eritrea in group-A.

It’s the second time that Uganda coming back from behind and win a game. It was remembered that Uganda, in one of its group B match against Yemen, was 2-1 down until 6 minutes to go, when Uganda turned it around to win the game 3-2 helped by the controversial equalizing goal allowed from what later appeared to be a clear off-side.

Mathematically, both teams are head-to-head favourite to lift the friendship & Development Cup of the CECAFA U-20 championship on Saturday. In the run up to the final place of the CECAFA U-20 cup, Uganda scored 11 & conceded 6 goals in 4 games, while, Eritrea scored 6 but conceded only 2 in 5 matches. Eritrean back line has proven time and again as the tightest defense whereas Uganda defense seems to leak more often than not. Are the Red Sea boys going to take advantage of Uganda’s leaky defense? It’s a million Nakfa question as Eritrea’s trouble is its shyness in front of the goal. But Football cannot be predicted based on a mathematical calculation. A team can switch tactic to approach the game quite differently. The semi final against Rwanda last Wednesday was a classic example where Eritrea should have won the game by a wider margin but end up to win it by only a goal to nil, keeping the fans on the edge of their seats for the whole 90 minutes.

I spoke to a football enthusiast & pundit, Solomon Wedi-Keshi, and said, “Come Saturday, this shyness in front of the goal can become a thing of the past with the dedicated home fans behind them, the Red Sea boys can unleash their strike force to win the cup more convincingly.”

Eritrea has never had any problem in their movements and creating bagful of goal scoring chances by dominating the game in midfield. It’s high time the strikers get switched-‘ON’ on such a historic occasion for Eritrean football. Perhaps the electrifying home fans will do the trick.

The Eritrean backline will get a further boost when the two Yohannesses are going to be available for the final, after missing the semi-final on suspension for receiving a double yellow card each in the previous group matches. The two Yohanneses are back fresh and will help re-enforce the backline after being forced to sit out and only watch the semi-final win from the bench. The two Yohanneses, along with Merhawi and Isayas Tekle at the back will be busy locking out the free scoring Ugandan from Samuel Alazar’s goal. Samuel Alazar had a fantastic tournament conceding only two goals in five game of which only one came from an open play against Sudan & the other one being a penalty against Somalia.

Hopefully, Negash Teklit starts cautiously, along with his conventional back-four, another four in the midfield to outnumber the Ugandans to deny them the time & space in the middle. He has got the luxury of using Abraham Tedros(Agua), Idris Ismael, KuluBerhan, Yonathan & Kibrom Andemariam in the midfield and with Meron Habtesulus and Tesfalem up-front. In fact, five midfield and a lone striker up-front can be even a more cautious option. But Negash Teklit, brave as a player he was, has shown bravery once again in his positive style of play and could surprise anyone on any day, tactic-wise.

Another Eritrean in UK that I spoke to, Sesin Seyoum, said, “We Eritreans in diaspora, just as our dedicated fans back home are braced up to cheer for our boys at the top of our voice.” He continued, “We have full confidence in Negash Teklit's boys, besides, the Red-Sea boys are clearly favourite to lift the cup but we should avoid complacency as Uganda are the defending champion who will give their all to retain it.”

The comments section on this article is active so that you can show support to our government & victorious young team who have made this possible for Eritrea!

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