Uganda Cranes face off with hosts Ethiopia Walia
Ibex in a mouthwatering Cecafa Senior Challenge
Cup semifinals today at the National
Stadium in Addis Ababa.
Cranes last reached the semis of the tournament
in 2012 under then coach Bobby Williamson as
they went on to lift their 13th trophy at the
Namboole Stadium in Kampala beating Kenya 2-1
in the final.
Ethiopia made a slow start to the tournament
with one win, two draws and a loss during the
group stages. They lost against Rwanda before
beating Somalia 2-0 and finished with a 1-1 draw
against Tanzania.
They faced the Kilimanjaro Stars again in the
quarters coming from behind to draw 1-1 in
regulation time before beating them on post
match penalties.
Cranes started the group stages on a low losing
to Kenya 2-0 before coming back beating both
Zanzibar and Burundi. Cranes booked their
semifinal by beating Malawi 2-0 to set up the
mouth watering clash against Ethiopia.
Cranes coach Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic’s side
goes into the game as favourites who have an
impeccable record in the competition. Having
once coached St. George of Ethiopia, Micho is
more conversant with the Walia Ibex style of play
and set to deploy some of his key players led by
impressive captain Faruk Miya who is also
fighting to get the golden boot.
Juuko Murshid, Muzamiru Mutyaba, Erisa
Ssekisambu, Shafiq Bakaki and Hassan Wasswa
are some of the players expected to play a
pivotal role as Uganda Cranes fight to upset
Ethiopia Walia Ibex.