CECAFA: URA take on Rwanda''s APR in quarter finals

Jul 22, 2012

URA FC renew their quest for the first CECAF tournament when they take on Rwanda army side APR at the quarter finals on Monday in Tanzania.

By Hafsa Sonko in Dar es Salaam

URA FC renew their quest for the first CECAF tournament when they take on Rwanda army side APR at the quarter finals on Monday in Tanzania.

After taking all the maximum points at the group stages URA are now the talk of tow on the streets of Dar es salaam as the team to beat.

Coach Alex Isabirye revealed that he is a bit relieved when he avoided another home side at the next stage.

“I am not saying APR is a weak team but it is tricky to play a home side in such tournaments because they will always throw every thing at you with the help of the fan. But I have respect for them and I expect a tough game,” said Isabirye.

URA opened the campaing with a 2-0 win over record CECAFA champions Simba FC, followed that with a 3-1 demolition of tournament favourited Vita Club from DRC and wrapped things up with another 3-1 win over Ports from Djibouti.

APR manager Ernest Brandy said he will rely on the three Ugandan stars in his team to tame the high flying tax collectors come Monday.

“It is true URA are a very strong team but I have three Ugandans who know them very well and we shall seek their advise on how we can tame them,” Said Brandy.

The three are Johnson Bagoole, Dan wagaluka and Habib Kavuma, who is yet to play in the tournament.

But Bagoole, who recently earned a call back to the Udanda Cranes made a terrible mistake in his penalty area that led to Younga’s second goal and the coach is likely to leave him on the bench against his former club URA FC.

URA players on high demand

Meanwhile After an impressive display during this year CECAFA Kagame cup, clubs have started knocking on URA FC door for signatures of some players who have exhibited there best so far.

Tanzania giants Yanga FC, Simba FC, Vital Club of DR Congo and APR from Rwanda are tracing the services of Simon Masaba, Yasin Mugabi, Ali Feni, Owen Kasule and Sam Senkoomi who all have had a good tournament so far.

Club secretary Henry Mayeko corfimed that some clubs have approached them in a bid to do business with them but have put every thing on hold untill the end of the tournament.

“We have heard approaches from various camps for some of our players but as of now they are still speculations, we will not be driven by such because we are now focusing on winning the CECAFA trophy," said Mayekom.

Former URA players like Dan Wagaluka, Joseph Owino, Derrick Walulya, Hamis Kiiza, Habib Kavuma and Johnson Bagoole have joined CECAFA clubs in the past.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});