Africa: Rwanda Crash Out of Cecafa Tourney As Ethiopia Advance

Rwanda bid farewell to the CECAFA Women's Champions underway in Uganda after a 3-2 loss to Ethiopia in their Group B clash on Wednesday in Njeru.

It was a second successive loss for the She-Amavubi after a similar defeat to Tanzania two days earlier, and enough to send them packing out of the regional tourney, whilst Ethiopia booked their place at the last four alongside Tanzania.

Losa Abera gave Ethiopia an early lead, scoring the opener after three minutes before Mukeshimana Dorothee equalized for Rwanda just before the interval.

Three minutes past the hour mark, Abera restored her side's lead only for Nibagwire Sifa Gloria to level the scores six minutes later.

On 70 minutes, Meskerem Kanko broke the hearts of the She-Amavubi with the match winner and secure the Lucy a last four berth.

A visibly disappointed Rwanda coach Marie Grace Nyinawumuntu in a post-match interview described the tournament as a learning process for her team ahead of future competitions.

"We are not happy because we lost two consecutive matches. Though we are out, we have learned more from the tournament and we will prepare well for next year's competition.

"Now, I know the level of my girls and as well as the level of other teams. Also, I noted the weak points of my players and will correct all mistakes we did before jetting to future competitions" said Nyinawumuntu.

On her part, Ethiopia coach Meserte Manni said the victory over Rwanda was "only a starting point for my team.

"It was a good match. We played short passes, but we also did some mistakes from which we have learned to help us prepare well for other matches ahead. We want to improve from where we are now to make sure that we defeat Tanzania when we meet on Friday" Manni told the media.

On Thursday, host Uganda face Burundi for the last ticket to the semis whilst Kenya are favoured to made light work of Zanzibar, who have conceded 19 goals from their previous two games.

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