CECAFA: URA's fate to be decided Saturday
Jun 21, 2013
A toss of a coin could decide which two CECAFA clubs advance to the quarters from the Kadguli based Group ‘C’ tomorrow.
By David Kizito In Darfur
A toss of a coin could decide which two CECAFA clubs advance to the quarters from the Kadguli based Group ‘C’ tomorrow.
URA who won their opening match against Al-Hilal 1-0 on Tuesday, lost with the same margin to Al-Ahly Shandi yesterday. This leaves the group in serious mathematics to determine the two qualifying clubs.
The results of Saturday’s fixture between home boys Al- Hilal (Kadguli) and Al- Ahly Shandi from Khartoum will determine the occupants of the two slots in the quarter finals. The winners will be airlifted to El-Fashir City where all knockout matches will be hosted.
Cecafa General secretary Nicholas Musonye Thursday arranged a special flight for URA FC immediately after their last group stage match, and they are currently camped in Khartoum until after tomorrow’s match.
If Al-Ahly Shandi beats Al-Hilal on any margin, URA and Shandi will automatically advance to the next round and a draw of any kind still leaves the same two clubs in advantageous positions. In case of a win for Al-Hilal with more than a goal without conceding any, then they qualify with URA and leave Shandi out.
The worst scenario will however emerge when Al-Hilal wins with a 1-0 margin. This will imply that the organizing committee determines the two qualifiers on a toss of a coin since all the three clubs will have won and lost their matches on the same margins.
URA only needed to force a draw against Shandi in yesterday’s match to get out of this mathematics but succumbed to pressure in the dying minutes of the game. They now have to keep their hands crossed for the results that favour their qualification.
The other Ugandan side Express FC had all they wanted to win their opening match of the Cecafa-Kagame Club Championship on Thursday but had very poor finishing at goal mouth that cost them a goalless draw against Djibouti’s lowly ranked Ports FC.
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Express will now have to struggle to beat either Rayon Sport tomorrow or the visiting Electric Sport on Monday, an assignment that seem to b e tall order for them. Coach Wasswa Bbosa who was in charge of the game said, “It wasn’t our day”.
Express played in jerseys bearing the logos of USL and Bell, an act that seems to contradict the rules of the tournament. The Cecafa-Kagame club championship is sanctioned by CAF and FIFA and yet USL is no longer recognized by these football administrative bodies.
Action resumes Friday afternoon with Vitalo taking on Elman and struggling APR playing home side El-Merreikh at 3:00 pm and 5:00 pm respectively.
THURSDAY RESULTS
URA (0) Al-Ahly Shandi (1)
Ports (0) Express (0)
Electric Sport (3) Rayon Sport (3)
Today:
3:00 pm: Vitalo Vs Elman
5:00 pm APR Vs Merreikh