Somalia beat Sudan 1-0 to book a place in the semifinals of the CAF Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Central-East zone qualifiers.
The reigning zonal champions defeated Sudan in their Group B encounter in Kampala, Uganda on Saturday.
Sakariye Mohamed netted the game’s only goal two minutes into added time to send the Somalia fans into raptures. After a mix-up in Sudan’s defense, Mohamed controlled the ball well and fired past goalkeeper Mamadu Mohamed Musa Ali.
The two teams had missed glaring opportunities in each half, but Somalia’s win sends them up to second in Group B behind leaders South Sudan, who had beaten them 3-0 in the qualifying tournament’s opening match.
Somalia assistant coach Muqtar Ali was full of praise for his players. “We are very happy that we kept strong and pushed on until we scored the vital goal,” said Ali.
Sudan head coach Mohamed Abdulkhadir Sheikhdon rued his side’s failure to take the win. “We created some scoring chances, but failed to take them,” he said.
Saturday’s action sees hosts Uganda face Kenya in Group A. The top two teams in each three-team group will progress to the semifinal stage of the qualifying process for the U17 Africa Cup of Nations finals in Cote d’lvoire next year.
