Mid Way Update CECAFA under 20: Eritrea must score goals, Uganda looking tough.

     In what has been a very exciting week for Eritrea as a host nation, it is now time to reflect on the under 20 Red Sea boys and how they have been faring so far after two games. In their game against Tanzania they played an attacking style and missed many golden opportunities until they converted a Penalty kick. A win is a win and they went on to defeat a pretty solid Tanzanian team by one goal to none. Meanwhile Eritrea's group A partners have all had a dismal showing early on and what we will do is break down each team's chances, wins and loses. We start of with the home team and GROUP A:

Eritrea: Has beaten Tanzania and drew with Sudan earning four points so far. Eritrea will play Somalia on Saturday August 21st, 2010 and Kenya on Monday August 23rd, 2010. While Eritrea has a great chance to defeat Somalia, it can also beat Kenya and stay at the top of group A.

                                                      Eritrea vs Tanzania as the Red Sea boys wins 1-0 on opening day.

Kenya: Also have 4 points but lots of goals. Drew with Sudan in it's first game and defeated Somalia in a very strong way by beating them 6-0. Kenya as of this point are leaders in group A but they have remaining games against Tanzania on Saturday August 21st, 2010 and Eritrea on Monday August 23rd, 2010.

Sudan: Drew all of their games as they they have three points. They tied Somalia 0-0 and Kenya 2-2 and Eritrea 1-1. They are not to be taken lightly as they can get 7 points if they beat Tanzania and squeak in as the second team from Group A.

Tanzania: Lost to Eritrea and have one point so far from a draw against Somalia. They will be playing Kenya on Saturday August 21st, 2010 after the Eritrea Somalia game. Tanzania will fight to get in as a second place team if they defeat Kenya and considering Eritrea wins it's games against Somalia.

Somalia: Still had a chance until they gave up lot's of goals against Kenya. The Somalians can play spoilers by beating Eritrea on Saturday. The Eritrean Red Sea boys must score and win if they are to advance.

As far as Group B is concerned Uganda and Zanzibar seem to be the tough teams while Yemen as a guest and Rwanda have very minimal chances of advancing. Let us look at this four team Group and we start of with the Cranes of Uganda from GROUP B:

Uganda: Have six points and lead  group B. They won both their games against Rwanda 3-1 and Yemen 3-2. They will still play Zanzibar on Friday August 20th, 2010.

Zanzibar: Beat a decent Yemen team 2-1 and drew against Rwanda earning four points so far and maintaining as a second place team. They will be playing Uganda to see if they can earn three points and take the lead in Group B while Uganda will advance as a second place team.

Rwanda: Only has one point as they lost to Uganda and drew with Zanzibar. Their chances of advancing is slim to none but can play for their jersey as they take on a Yemen on Friday August 20th, 2010.

Yemen: Coming in as a replacement for Burundi, Yemen has displayed great skills and their chances are finished but they showed that they have a great future and will be a tough team to contend with in their region.

This pretty much sums up the results and breakdown of the CECAFA under 20 tournament and for more information as well as up to date news follow ERI-TV and ERI-International Sports blog. In order for the Eritrea to claim victory they must score. Hopefully coach Negash Teklit has some secrets for the next couple of games and Eritrea will have to dominate the front lines and prove that it is a strong team. 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 may be a pre-mature prediction but the possibilities are very good. However Eritrea must have a strong showing against Somalia and Kenya.

For Eri-International Sports
Mike Seium