Under 17 girls confront Zambia in Cosafa debut
Juliet Nalukenge (R) in action against a FWEL Select side recently. PHOTO: FUFA MEDIA
KAMPALA- Coach Ayub Khalifan left for Mauritius assured that his team can fight for top place in the Cosafa U17 Women Championship that gets underway today in Port Luis.
Mauritius has hosted the Cosafa men’s Under-17 Championships for the previous three years and will now entertain the women’s competition in this age-group for the first time.
Khalifan’s target is as bold as they come and the hard work starts with an interesting matchup against Zambia, whose U-17 team has been present since 2008 and participated in the Fifa U-17 World Cup in 2018, today at St Francois Xavier Stadium.
Both Khalifan and his Young Copper Queens counterpart Kaluba Kangwa agree that beyond winning, the tournament should be seen as a developmental project.
“We want to win but I am not under any pressure to emulate the senior team,” Khalifan told Daily Monitor.
The senior team Crested Cranes, managed by Faridah Bulega won bronze at the 2018 Cosafa Championships – where Khalifan’s captain Juliet Nalukenge was a squad member and scored in a 3-2 win over Zimbabwe.
Kaluba believes that whatever they do now must translate into ‘playing for the 2024 World Cup with these girls.’
“Whatever the outcomes are going to be, we must appreciate the fact that we have got a group of young girls that is going to represent us well,” Kaluba told cosafa.com.
COSAFA U-17 WOMEN CHAMPS
UGANDA’S FIXTURES – GROUP A
September 20:
Zambia vs. Uganda
September 22:
Mauritius vs. Uganda
September 24:
Comoros vs. Uganda
