CECAFA: Nalukenge nets hattrick as Uganda beats Burundi 4-0
Dec 10, 2019
Samari Nakachwa made it four, late in the second half with a long-range effort as the hosts registered their all-important victory.
By Shafik Ssenoga and Bruno Mugooda
CECAFA U-17 Girls Tournament
Results
Tanzania 5 Eritrea 0
Djibouti 0 Kenya 14
Uganda 4 Burundi 0
Wednesday
Kenya v Eritrea
Burundi v Tanzania
Uganda v Djibouti
Skipper Juliet Nalukenge netted a hattrick as the national U-17 team started their campaign in the CECAFA U-17 Girls Tournament with a 4-0 victory over Burundi in a match played at FUFA Technical Centre, Njeru.
"I'm happy to score three goals, but I want to help score important goals that will hand us the title at home," stated Nalukenge.
Samari Nakachwa made it four, late in the second half with a long-range effort as the hosts registered their all-important victory.
However, head coach Ayub Khalifah felt that his side missed a lot of scoring chances.
"Although we won, we lost so many goal-scoring opportunities that would have given us a better score," Khalifah said.
But Burundi's coach Daniella Niyibimenya blamed the defeat on fatigue among his players.
"Fatigue affected our play after arriving late", noted Niyibimenya. Uganda will be back in action when they play Djibouti on Wednesday.
The first-ever CECAFA U17 girls competition will be played in a round-robin format with hosts Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Kenya, Eritrea, and Djibouti because South Sudan, Rwanda, and Ethiopia pulled out.
Uganda has a higher chance of walking away with the trophy after winning the COSAFAU-17 Girls event that was held in Mauritius.
The CECAFA U17 Competition is among the tournaments that are sponsored by FIFA to revive the game of football in East Africa.
In other group matches, Kenya thrashed Djibouti 14-0 while Eritrea went down 5-0 to Tanzania.