NAIROBI, Kenya, September 23 – Kenya’s remaining representatives to the Airtel Rising Stars Africa Championship Olympic Secondary School lost 0-1 to Tanzania in a hard –fought final played on Sunday night at the Agege Township stadium in Lagos, Nigeria.
The lone goal in the evenly contested match was scored by Donisia Daniel in the second half.
Olympic sailed to the finals after beating Nigeria 3-2 on post-match penalties while Tanzania hammered Uganda 8-1.
Speaking after the match, Olympic Head Coach Maurice Okumu lamented the best team lost.
“We had more chances than they did. They had only one chance which they utilized well,” said Okumu.
The Tanzanian’s coach Abel Mtweve was ecstatic.
“It is amazing. Tanzania has never qualified from the group stages for the finals of any competition for 20 years.
“This young generation of footballers are just about 14, 15 years of age. So, expect more from us in future”.
In the Boys division Niger successfully defended their after defeating Zambia 7-6 in a penalty shoot-out after the match had ended 1-1 in regulation time.
Niger has been the best team at the week-long event winning all their matches. They scored an impressive 12 goals and conceding only three in six matches.
Kenya’s representatives had a bad outing finishing bottom of group C after collecting only one point from three matches.
Organized by Airtel, The Airtel Rising Stars Africa championship is an annual soccer tournament that brings together the best U-17 players from 16 African countries.
The 2013 edition took place in Lagos, Nigeria and Arsenal legend Robert Pires attended the finals of the tournament.
