AZAM FC are CECAFA Kagame Cup Champions

Aug 02, 2015

John Bocco`s early goal helped Azam FC secure their first ever CECAFA Kagame Cup title in Dar-es-Salaam.


By Kenneth Muwanga


CECAFA Kagame Cup final

Azam FC (Tanzania) 2 - 0 Gor Mahia (Kenya)

Third-place playoff


KCCA FC (Uganda)  2 - 1 Al-Khartoum (Sudan)


DAR-ES-SALAAM -  John Bocco`s opener in the 17th minute gave Azam FC life and belief, eventually helping the Tanzanian side secure their first ever CECAFA Kagame Cup title at the National Stadium.

The individual brilliance from striker Kipre Tchetche saw his fine pass from the right fall in the path of skipper John Bocco who made sure to tap home the opener, with Gor Mahia keeper Boniface Oluoch and his defense well beaten.

The Kenyan league champions could have leveled the score six minutes later but Micheal Wafula was wasteful.

It was a wobbly start for Gor Mahia but they eventually grew into the game and by half time, despite still trailing, they had proved dominant over the Tanzanians who were pursuing their first regional club title.

After restart, Gor Mahia continued from where they had left off, piling ever more pressure on a resilient Azam side, but an equalizer proved to be elusive. It was never going to be easy to penetrate the Tanzanian side's solid defense, which has lent evidence to the fact that Azam reached the final without conceding any goal in the entire tournament.

And as the game got more physical, with tackles flying and tempers flaring, first goal assist Kipre Tchetche floated home a deceptive (on the part of the Gor Mahia goalie) free-kick in the 76th minute, sending the home faithful into early celebrations, knowing almost certainly that they had this one in the bag.

Didier Kavumbagu had a chance to all but seal the scoreline with a third, but his 87th minute effort was off target. Nevertheless, the stadium, filled with more ecstatic Azam fans than dejected Gor Mahia supporters, was sparked into scenes of wild celebrations when the final whistle went off.

Azam FC defender Pascal Wawa was named Man of the Match and Gor Mahia's Micheal Olunga the tournament's top scorer with five goals.

The Tanzanian side bagged $30,000 for winning the title while second-place Gor Mahia took home $20,000.

Meanwhile, earlier on Sunday, Ugandan side KCCA FC beat Khartoum of Sudan 2-1 in the third-place playoff to walk home $10,000 (about sh33m) richer, one position better than last year.

Micheal Biringi netted for KCCA in the 7th minute with a display of individual brilliance after a great run from the left, cutting into the edge of the box before striking home.

It was more quick work from the Ugandans who found the net three minutes later thanks to wonderful play from skipper Tom Masiko and Hakim Ssenkumba to set up Muzamiru Mutyaba for a cute goal past Khartoum keeper Mohammed Ibrahim.

But six minutes before half time, Khartoum came back into the game when they reduced their deficit courtesy of an Ousmaila Baba strike.

It was a drab goalless second half which ensured that the scoreline remain in favour of KCCA who eventualy took third place of an impressive tournament on their part.

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