It was about a year ago when most of us Eritreans got a little disappointed that our Red sea Camels under 17 team lost to the Cranes of Uganda by the score of 2-0 in the finals of the CECAFA under 17 championship that took place in Sudan. Eritrea performed well and beat the home team Sudan convincingly after beating Zanzibar and drawing with Burundi and Rwanda respectively. The Under 17 boys made us all proud even though they lost in the championship game.
On Saturday August 28th, 2010 in front of the home crowd the Eritrean under 20 team has a chance to put an exclamation mark on what has been an outstanding journey of friendship and development and peace for the entire central and east Africa region. By defeating a strong Uganda team Eritrea will show that it has the potential to be a shining star not only as a host but also as a strong contender of the most beautiful game.
Eri-International sports in last week’s blog wrote, “Eri-International sports predicts that Eritrea will get back it's scoring form and will make the semi finals and will advance for the championship game against Uganda.”
It was a prediction based on the idea that our boys from Eritrea would score more goals as their offense had been knocking on the door of their opponents for the entire event. However the home team has been doing the job defensively and getting enough goals to get through. Eritrea has been doing it defensively putting the term “The best offense is a good defense” in order, while Uganda has been scoring enough goals and comes to the finals as the only team not to lose a single game. It will be a severe test for the Eritrean national team as the Ugandans were predicted a clear favorite.
The Cranes as they are known by their nick name are also the defending champions, but what will make it a sweet victory for Eritrea is to be able to get a win for the entire nation which has been waiting for a moment like this for a while. Despite not putting the ball in the back of the net, the Eritrean team has been getting wins and hopefully they have saved their best for last. The making of a celebration is there as they face a defending champion that has not lost a single game in the Cecafa under 20 tourney, and also a nation that beat Eritrea in the under 17 version last year. With the home field advantage this will surely be a historic day in Eritrea.
I hope the Red sea boys will do it for our past heroes of the game and coaches like the legendary Gedil and the many who have contributed to the sport in Eritrea while also thinking of our Martyrs who have sacrificed so that we can play as a nation. Eri-International sports predict a one goal differential victory for Eritrea.
Good luck to our Red sea Camels and on the next blog please look for an exclusive interview with Golgol Mebrehatu of the Australian A-League. We will also have a report on the sports portion of the 2010 Eritrean Festival that took place in Washington D.C
For Eri-Intrenational sports blog
Mike Seium
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