The national U-17 team, Serengeti Boys have sent a warning to the next opponents South Africa, their last hurdle to U-17 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier after a voluminous 9-0 aggregate win over Seychelles.
On Saturday, Serengeti Boys recorded a massive 6-0 away victory over their hosts Seychelles in Victoria to eliminate their opponents in the race and set a clash with South Africa to seek a ticket for Africa’s U-17 Cup of Nations finals in Madagascar.
The Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) Information Officer, Alfred Lucas, unveiled yesterday from the capital of Seychelles, Victoria that Serengeti Boys who won 3-0 in the first leg match held in Dar es Salaam are determined to make history by making it to the Madagascar finals.
After seeing off Seychelles from the tournament, Serengeti Boys now face a big test from their South Africans counterparts, the Amajimbos, whom they will face in the second round of the tournament whereby the first leg match will be played between August 5 and 7 this year.
According to Lucas, Serengeti boys will face Amajimbos away in the first leg match and the second leg at home will be held at the Azam Chamazi Complex on the outskirt Dar es Salaam city on August 14.
The overall winner of the two- legged match will face the winner between Namibia and Congo-Brazzaville. South Africa had an easy ride into the second round following the withdrawal of their opponents while Namibia eliminated Botswana on 3-2 on aggregate.
On his side, Serengeti Boys head coach, Bakari Shime alias the ‘Black Wizard’ said he has evaluated the upcoming fixture and predicted a tough task ahead, however disclosed that he aimed at winning all the upcoming games as he is not only battling to see his side qualifies for Madagascar finals but also he wants it to play in the 2017 FIFA U-17 finals in India.
FIFA U-17 finals will be held in September and if Serengeti Boys manage to qualify for the semi final stage of the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations in Madagascar it will automatically have the ticket for the U-17 World Cup in India.
“I have been with the team for over a year now, I see no obstacle ahead which will destroy our dreams of reaching the World Cup finals. We pray for things to go smoothly for us and we also pray for TFF leaders and other stakeholders to continue supporting the team , ” Shime said.
Also the coach acknowledge TFF President Jamal Malinzi for acquiring the costs of the team’s two-week training camp in Madagascar scheduled from July 24 this year. Serengeti Boys are scheduled to leave Victoria today but they are expected to jet in back into the country tomorrow from Seychelles via Addis Abba.
In another development Serengeti Boys players are scheduled to have a short break before commencing their preparations for their match against South Africa as per the advice of the technical bench and team physician.
The qualifying matches will be played between June and October and at the end seven teams will join host Madagascar from April 2-21 next year. The winner of the two legged match will proceed to the next round in which they will face South Africa in the last 16 to get eight teams that will reach the finals to be played in Madagascar next year.
The match with South Africa will be played between 5 to 7 August for the first leg and the return leg will be on August 19 to 21 August. The 2017 African U-17 Cup of Nations will take place in Madagascar.
The tournament will also act as a qualifier to the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup in India. The top four nations will seal their places in India next year. The FIFA U-17 finals will be held in September 2017 in India.
Source: Tanzania Daily News.