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Uganda defeated Tanzania 3-1 to retain the U-17 title from the Regional Council of Central and Eastern African Football Associations (CECAFA).
The final of the competition, which also served as a knockout for the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations Total, Morocco 2021, was played at the Umuganda Stadium in Rubavu, Rwanda on Tuesday.
Omari Yahaya almost gave Tanzania an early lead, but his shot bounced off the wood.
Uganda’s top scorer Oscar Mawa also had a chance to put his name on the score sheet and score his seventh goal of the tournament, but missed by inches.
After a goalless first half, Ivan Irinimbabazi nodded to make it 1-0 for Uganda in the 63rd minute. A fine free-kick from Vincent Mulema was well received by Irinimbabazi to give his side the lead.
Tanzania tried to counterattack, but failed to break the Ugandan defense. It would soon become 2-0 for Uganda when Travis Mutyaba dribbled past three defenders and sent a low shot to Tanzania goalkeeper Abdallah Hassani.
Tanzania halved the deficit in the 88th minute when the Ugandan defender cleared the ball into his own net. But two minutes later, Uganda had a penalty after defender Omari Yahaya knocked down Mutyaba in the area. Captain Ibrahim Juma stepped forward and converted to make it 3-1.
“I am happy that the players achieved our goals, which were to qualify for the AFCON U-17 and retain the CECAFA trophy,” Uganda’s head coach Hamuza Lutalo said after the final.
Previously, Ethiopia beat Djibouti 5-2 with 10 men to win the bronze medal.
Ugandan Mutyaba was voted Player of the Tournament, while his teammate Oscar Mawa won the Top Scorer award with six goals. Sylvester Otto from Tanzania received the Fair Play award and Henry Mwebe from Uganda was voted Best Goalkeeper.
The competition attracted six teams, namely Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya, and host Rwanda.
