Cecafa giants to storm through

Match Forecast

Kenya 3 Mauritius 0
Bobby Williamson’s Kenyan Harambee Stars are by far the biggest underachievers of international football. They did, however, show great hunger by disposing of the Mauritians 5-2 in the first leg. This effectively makes this a dead rubber. I still fancy Michael Olunga and Johana Omolo to use the fixture to improve their goal statistics.

Malawi 2 Tanzania 1
Ernest Mtawali’s Malawi Flames were uncustomarily below par as they fell to Tanzania 2-0 in Dar es Salaam. Although the Taifa’s Stars possess arguably the region’s best forward line of TP Mazembe pair Thomas Ulimwengu and Mbwana Samatta, their defense is suspect. I think the home team will win the match but lose the tie.

Burundi 2 Seychelles 0
The Swallows already have one foot into the next round as they won the first leg courtesy of a Fiston Abdul Razak strike. Burundi are one of the more talented teams within the Cecafa region and I am tipping Selemani Ndikumana, Papy Faty and Pierre Kwizera to blow away the Islanders.

Lesotho 1 Comoros 0
This game should interest Cranes coach Milutin Sredojevic as Comoros are Uganda’s opponents in the African Cup of Nations qualifiers. Comoros like to pack their defense as evidenced by the goalless draw in the first leg. All the same I can’t see how they can survive the barrage Adam Siddorn’s Crocodiles will subject them to at the Setsoto Stadium.

Namibia 0 Gambia 0
Namibia do not score enough goals. That will be their undoing when they confront Raoul Savoy’s physically imposing West Africans in Windhoek. The last time the Scorpions visited Southern Africa, they held Shakes Mashaba’s Bafana Bafana to a goalless draw. I expect the same outcome against relatively much inferior opposition today.

Swaziland 3 Djibouti 0
Swazi football is going through a period of an unprecedented boom. Their 2-1 victory over Guinea in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Marrakesh is an indicator of how far they have come. Djibouti have been quietly building a team around their Telecom side, that recently featured in the Cecafa Kagame Clubs Cup, but they will be no match for Tony Tsabedze and company.

Niger 3 Somalia 0
Somalia come into this fixture with a considerable disadvantage as they had to play their home leg in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Francois Zahoui’s Niger’s Mena have retrogressed after a period of progress in the early part of the 21st century. The big West Africans should still have too much for George Semwogerere’s Ocean Stars.