Giants Tanzania, Ethiopia fight for Group B supremacy

Tanzania must better a fair record against Ethiopia today and overcome the absence of their coach Bakari Shime if they want to control proceedings in Group B of the ongoing Cecafa Women Championship at Fufa Technical Centre, Njeru.

Coach Shime takes care of all three Tanzania national teams; senior, U-20 and U-17. The latter are on the brink of qualifying for the U-17 World Cup in India after beating Cameroon 4-1 in Yaounde in the first leg of the final qualification round.
The second leg is due Sunday in Zanzibar.

So the national team, which won Cecafa 2016 and 2018, has been left to their football federation technical director Oscar Rabson Mrembo with the hope that Shime will join if they progress to the knockout rounds.

That assignment started with a laboured 2-0 Group B victory over South Sudan, thanks to goals scored from captain Amina Bilali and Diana Lucas Msewa’s long range shots, on Thursday.

Tanzania dominated proceedings as they are wont to but clearly missed their forward Aisha Khamis Masaka, who is now playing in Sweden, as they struggled for the quality in the final third needed to put away their chances.

They now move to a gigantic clash against Ethiopia, with whom they were also in Group B in 2016 when this competition returned after 30 years.

Transition

Ethiopia also recorded a massive 5-0 win over Zanzibar on Thursday with braces from Loza Abera and defender Daniel Kidist after Aregash Tadesse’s first minute opener.

Ethiopia, however, look to be under a bigger transition as Firew Hailegebral has taken over the coaching reigns owing to his successes with the U-20 team that won the age group’s Cecafa Championship in Njeru last November.
He has carried a number of stars from that U-20 team so his idea of playing expansive football is clear. 
And for goals, he can count on experienced forward Abera, who missed the 2018 and 2019 Cecafa editions as she was playing in Sweden and Malta.  
The winner of this clash could avoid hosts Uganda in the semifinals.

Meanwhile, South Sudan will hope to continue their debut season (2019) success against Zanzibar when the sides clash in the late afternoon.

If their defensive display against Tanzania is anything to go by, then South Sudan could come confident of holding Zanzibar. 

However, neither team made noteworthy attacking inroads on day one. That could be the puzzle to solve today.

Cecafa Women's cup - June 4 
Ethiopia     vs.     Tanzania 1pm
South Sudan     vs.     Zimbabwe 4pm

Recent meetings

2012 Awcon Q:     Tanzania     0- 1     Ethiopia
2012 Awcon Q:     Ethiopia     2- 1     Tanzania
2016 Group B:     Tanzania     0-0     Ethiopia
2018:     Ethiopia     1 -4     Tanzania
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