Kenya U20 and Burundi U20 are set to battle it out for a ticket to the U20 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2025 tournament when they meet on Friday night.
The two nations will face each other in the second semifinal of the ongoing CECAFA region qualifying tournament that is being held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Kenya’s Rising Stars go into the much-anticipated clash as the favorites, due to the excellent form that they are enjoying at the moment.
The Salim Babu-tutored side dismantled a strong Sudan side 4-0 in their last Group A match played on Tuesday afternoon to reach the last four.
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Spanish-based forward Aldrine Kibet scored a hat-trick in that one-sided encounter with highly-rated midfielder Kevin Wangaya also finding the back of the net.
Kibet and Wangaya are once again expected to play an influential role against Burundi in the fixture scheduled to start from 7 pm Kenyan time at the Azam Complex.
Speaking ahead of the game, Babu was optimistic of his charges putting a good show and qualifying for the AFCON U20 tournament for the first time in history.
Kenya U20 head coach confident
“Our fans should expect the best. First of all, we would like to thank the federation for making it possible for us to stay together in the camp for a longer time.
We have a lot of hopes in this match because we came to qualify. So, I think the fans should expect great things from us,” he stated.
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His Burundian counterpart Gustave Niyonkuru acknowledged that beating Kenya will not be easy.
“I can say we are good to go. Our players have had enough rest and as you can see they are happy. We have a task and we will do our best because we want to qualify for AFCON,” the experienced coach ended.
Burundi made it to the next round after finishing second in Group B behind leaders Uganda, who are scheduled to play hosts Tanzania in the first semifinal at 3 pm.
The two teams that will qualify for the final will represent the region in the upcoming AFCON tournament.
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