NAIROBI, Kenya, May 2 – Following South Sudan’s elimination, Somalia are East Africa’s only remaining representatives at the Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations in Algeria.
South Sudan were eliminated after five of their players failed the mandatory MRI test that is used to certify the ages of the players before age grade tournaments.
According to CAF”s regulations, a team can be allowed to take part in the competition if only three players or below fail the test. However, if more than four fail the test, then the whole team is expelled from the competition.
Nigeria were as well victims of the MRI gauge, but they remained in the competition as only two players failed the test.
Somalia, will now hopefully do well and represent East Africa brilliantly. They are the current CECAFA champions having beaten South Sudan in the finals last October.
They will take on Congo in their second match in Group A in Algiers, hopefully geared for victory to retain their hopes of making the quarter finals.
They had started off their campaign with a 2-0 defeat at the hands of hosts Algeria.
However, head coach Nur Mohamed is confident they can bounce back.
“We will do everything we can to win. Our plan is to perform excellently in that match. Our players do not have enough experience and expertise, but we have the determination to do our best. We have a spirit that drives us. We will try to organize our team in a good way and we hope we will win,” the coach said, speaking before the match.
Canada-based forward Abdirahman Bahur reiterates his coach’s thoughts for the game and is optimistic that if they can get their strategy and game plan right, they will carry maximum points against Congo.
“We watched our match against Algeria and analyzed it. We played against a good opponent who know how to keep the ball well. We have picked some lessons from that game and we hope we can improve against Congo. We will prepare the best way and hopefully win,” Bahur said.
