Nalukenge hunt for ‘golden boot’
Goal-den. Nalukenge scored a hatrick as Uganda thumped Burundi 4-0 on Monday. PHOTO BY JOHN BATANUDDE.
What you need to know:
- Khalifan will expect her to do even better after she and fellow forwards Fauzia Najjemba, Margaret Kunihira and Catherine Nagadya showed a bit of profligacy against Burundi.
Uganda have to be more decisive in their opponent’s box if they are to stand a chance of winning the ongoing inaugural Cecafa Girls U-17 Cup at Njeru Technical Centre.
Today, coach Ayub Khalifan’s side confront Djibouti on the back of a 4-0 win over Burundi in their opening encounter of the campaign on Monday.
Talismanic captain Juliet Nalukenge bagged a hattrick while the versatile Samalie Nakacwa, playing as makeshift right-back, bent the fourth one in from down the right wing and just ahead of the centre line in a slow second half.
Uganda should have scored or at least hunted for more goals given that such round-robin tournaments are notorious for being settled by goal difference.
Nalukenge, more than anyone on this team, will know this having been part of the senior side Crested Cranes, which lost last year’s Cecafa Women Challenge Cup to Tanzania on goal difference.
Her all-round arsenal allows her to make runs behind defences, take on defenders and link-up play with ease.
This should come as bonus for the team as she can score all sorts of goals and will also put her in good stead to chase Kenyan duo Viola Khalai and Fasila Adhiambo who scored five and four respectively in Kenya’s 14-0 rout of Djibouti plus Tanzania’s hattrick hero Joyce Meschack in the 5-0 win over Eriteria.
Nalukenge’s opener on Monday was a tap-in. The second a close range shot across with the outside of her right boot while the third was rebound with her left after her initial right foot shot was saved by the Burundian keeper.
Khalifan will expect her to do even better after she and fellow forwards Fauzia Najjemba, Margaret Kunihira and Catherine Nagadya showed a bit of profligacy against Burundi. In fact at times they were too elaborate and tried to walk the ball into the net.
“It was the first match of the tournament so we expect to do better in the upcoming games,” Khalifan said.
CECAFA GIRLS U-17 CUP
TODAY AT NJERU TECHNICAL CENTRE
Kenya vs. Eriteria, 11am
Burundi vs. Tanzania, 1.30pm
Uganda vs. Djibouti, 4pm
MONDAY’S RESULTS
Kenya 14-0 Djibouti
Tanzania 5-0 Eriteria
Uganda 4-0 Burundi
Cecafa Girls U17 Cup
P W D L F A Pts
Kenya 1 1 0 0 14 0 3
Tanzania 1 1 0 0 5 0 3
Uganda 1 1 0 0 4 0 3
Burundi 1 0 0 1 0 4 3
Eriteria 1 0 0 1 0 5 0
Djibouti 1 0 0 1 0 14 0
