By OUR CORRESPONDENT
Kenya’s Rising Stars is one game away from the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations U20 championships.
Kenya will face Burundi in the semi finals of TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) CECAFA Qualifiers on Friday and a win will assure Salim Babu’s charges.
In the other semi final, hosts Tanzania will face an acid test against favourites Uganda at KMC Stadium. The finalists will automatically qualify for the biannual AFCON U-20 tournament to take place in January next year in South Africa.
This edition of the tournament also doubles as the African qualifiers for the 2025 FIFA U20 World Cup to be held in Chile where teams who reach the semi-finals stage qualify automatically.
On Tuesday, Kenya booked a slot in the semis after an emphatic 4-0 win over Sudan at Azam Complex in Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania.
During the match, Spanish based striker Aldrine Kibet netted the first hat-trick to guide coach Salim Bab Ndarai to victory. Kibet started it off by finishing well from a corner early in the third minute, and made it 2-0 five minutes going into the interval.
After the break Sudan team came back strongly before Alothemen Shamseldeen Khalfallah Ahmed had his free-kick punched back by Kenya’s goalkeeper Ibrahim Wanzala after 58 minutes.
Kelvin Wangaya got his name on the score sheet after 68 minutes, and Kibet completed his hat-trick, his first at International level in the one minute of added time.
“I am very happy with the way my players expressed themselves on the pitch scoring four goals. We now have to focus on preparing for the semi-final match against Burundi,” said a happy Kenya coach Salim Babu.
