24 May 2015 11:13
Uganda shocked Rwanda 2-1, beating their neighbours 2-1 in the first leg of the second round qualifier for the African U-23 Championship Senegal 2015 on Saturday in Kigali.
The Kobs, under the technical direction of Serbian Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic, who was in charge of the Rwanda two years ago, took the lead in the ninth minute when Farouk Miya curled a beautiful free kick punishing Olivier Kwizera who had stepped out of the goal area with the ball in his hands.
Midfielder Dominique Savio Nshuti restored parity for the Amavubis with a well-taken strike on the hour mark. As the hosts mounted a challenge in search for the winner, substitute Muzamiru Mutyaba notched the winner to give Uganda a 2-1 advantage going into the second leg next week.
In a post-match interview, Rwanda coach Johnny Coach McKinstry said: “we showed the potential especially in the opening 25 minutes of the second half. We are optimistic and we believe much more can happen in the 90 minutes of the second half. We have the ability to overturn the result”.
On his part, Micho said: “we got the needed result. My players were fatigued but we managed to pull off the result. The second half started brightly for Rwanda but we managed to rise up thanks to the two changes we made. The battle is not yet over, we still have work harder and ensure that we finish off the task on a positive note”.
In Accra, Ghana’s Black Meteors needed a first half goal by England-based midfielder Enoch Ebo Andoh to ease past Congo. Andoh, who plays for English lower division side, Port Vale, scored the only goal of the match on 44 minute, giving the 1992 Olympic bronze medalists a narrow win ahead of the return leg. The result served a bitter pill for Congolese coach, Claude Le Roy, a former coach of Ghana between 2006 and 2008, on his first return to the West African country since parting ways with the Ghana Football Association (GFA) seven years ago.
Elsewhere in Rades, Tunisia accounted for visiting Sudan with a lone goal win, thanks to Slimene Kchok’s 89th minute winner.
Les Aigles of Mali fought back to snatch a late equalizer against Mauritania away in Nouakchott. Niane Adama converted a penalty in stoppage time to cancel out Mama Nias’ 62nd minute opener.
In Lobatse, hosts Botswana needed a late equalizer against Zambia and stay in contention. Shadreck Malambo gave the Chipolopolo a 13th minute lead before Unobatsha Mbaiwa netted the equalizer on 73 minutes.
The second leg matches has been fixed for the weekend of 29-31 May 2015 with the winners progress to the third round.
Friday, 22 May 2015
Botswana 1-1 Zambia
Saturday, 23 May 2015
Ghana 1-0 Congo
Mauritania 1-1 Mali
Rwanda 1-2 Uganda
Tunisia 1-0 Sudan
Sunday, 24 May 2015
Sierra Leone vs Cameroon*
Zimbabwe vs Swaziland
*Match to be played at the Ahmadou Ahidjo Omnisports Stadium in Yaoundé
Confederation of African Football (CAF) News
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