CECAFA U-20 Friendship & Development Cup Eritrea 2010

Zanzibar had 3 point docked

* Zanzibar had 3 points docked as the CECAFA authorities believed Zanzibar had fielded an over-age(over-20) player in their match against Yemen. Zanzibar, otherwise, would have booked a semi-final place against Eritrea at the expense of Rwanda.

**Yemen was awarded 3 points and 2 goals by forfeit but that wasn't enough to propel Yemen into a semi-final spot. Yemen drew 1-1 against Rwanda however Yemen felt cheated when they played Uganda two days earlier. Uganda scored first but Yemen stunned Uganda with two consecutive goals to lead the game 2-1 until six minutes before the final whistle, when Uganda appeared to equalized from a clearly off-side position, escaping the lines-man radar. The goal stood & that seems to destabilized Yemen. But the final nail in their coffin came near the end of the game when Yemen conceded a third goal. YNow it was Yemen who got stunned & the match ended with a 3-2 victory for Uganda. Yemen were robbed of a famous victory against the defending champions. Rwanda could't believe its fortunes at the expense of the double misfortunes of Yemen & Zanzibar, booking a semi-final place against the host in a full house Saba Stadium.

Eritrea Vs Kenya.......Eritrea U-20, in their last group fixture, has beaten Kenya 1-0 in a rainy match. Kenya needed only a draw to top the group so as to avoid its bitter rival & the defending Champion, Uganda, in the semi-final. To the dismay of the Harambe boys, Yonathan scored the only goal of a rather tight match to snatch group A's top spot from Kenya. Eritrea will play Rwanda in the semi-final while Kenya, inevitably, face Uganda. It's remembered that Eritrea won 2-1 against Somalia two days earlier & beaten Tanzania 1-0 in its opening match. Undefeated Eritrea tops the group with 10 points & relishes its next game against group-B Runner-up, Rwanda, on Wednesday.

Eritrea Vs Sudan....... Eritrea was 1-0 down in the first half after conceding a deflected goal. In the first minute of the second half, Red Sea boys pushed forward in search of an equalizer, resulted in the Kenyan referee awarding a controversial penalty. The captain, Abraham Tedros(Agua) stepped up to convert it for 1-1 scoreline. The home fans errupted. Funnily, after the penalty was scored (& not before the penalty was taken), Sudanese players led by their bitter coach walked out the pitch. The game resumed only after the intervention by the Sudanese ambassador to Eritrea. The game ended 1-1 & Sudan escaped CECAFA's wrath.

Eritrea Vs Rwanda Semi-final pre-match analysis

Our Red Sea boys are massively disadvantaged as they got only 1 day to rest before their crucial semi-final match after playing a grueling 4 matches in 9 days while their semi-final opponent, Rwanda, enjoys 4 days of rest with only 3 matches played. In spite of the odds, the Red Sea boys will pull it off as long as they manage to convert some of the many goal-scoring chances they create. Kenya will play Uganda in the other semi but all Eyes are on the semi finals between the Red Sea boys & Rwanda. Their aim is to avoid match No-19 by all means & go full throttle to book their place for match No.20(the final).

Known & famous for its tight defense, Eritrea has lived up to its proud reputation, conceded only 2 goals out of 4 games, the least number of goals conceded so far in the tournament. However the tightest defense will come to a test as Eritrea got two of its crucial defenders suspended for the semi-final, as a result of two yellow cards they received in the previous matches. Eritrea will have to either improvise or replace them like for like. There is rumours(bela-belo) that, the legend coach, Negash Teklit, might sacrifice the star striker & captain, Abraham Tedros(Agua) as a make-shift defender. On the other hand, Merhawi, the talented 17 year old future prospect of Eritrea, might fill the lead role in defense. The fans are certain that Warsai Merhawi, who captained Eritrea U-17 team last year when the Red Sea boys narrowly lost in the final against the host Sudan in the CECAFA U-17 championship, will relish the challenge. Our strike force is, however, not as good as our back-line, lacking that killer touch in front of the goal. We scored only 5 goals out of 4 home games of which two of them came from a penalty spot. Had we not possess a solid back four, we would have been exposed. However, we never had problem dominating the game in the midfield & creating chances. We need to nurture strong & instinctive goal-scorers with deadly finishing touches, needing only half chances or only a sniff of the goal to score. Forza Red Sea boys!! Forzza!!