James Bakama, Charles Okalebo and Bruno Mugooda
4 January 2009
Bugembe — SUDAN and Zambia bounced into Bugembe brimming with confidence only to be trimmed by lightweights. But Zambia and Burundi, the top two teams in the group B, edged closer to the semi-finals of the CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup.
Champions Sudan took a 17th minute lead but were silenced by a Daher Ahmed equaliser shortly after restart.
The other match had the Chipolopolo ambushed by a last minute Burundi equaliser.
Claude Nahimana was Burundi's hero with a precisely executed strike off a Fidele Nimubona pass.
Fans were already streaming out of Kyabazinga stadium when Nahimana stabbed in Nimubona's left wing effort.
Nahimana, who now has three goals, yet again stressed his intentions of taking the top scorer's prize.
Zambia's woes partly had to do with the tournament's first red card.
Kebby Hapichuka, a pillar in the Chipolopolo defense, was in the second half sent off by Somalia referee Abdulkadir Hassan for dangerous play.
Coach Herve Renard was however very bitter with the decision insisting that the referee had acted maliciously.
Djibouti scored a psychological goal hours before kick-off when their protest against having all their matches at 1.30pm was heard.
The organisers accordingly switched their match to 4pm.
To Djibouti's Egyptian coach Ahmad Koshari, the result was like a win.
"I've only been in charge for three months and transformed the team from one that used to lose 10-0 to one that can hold giants," Koshari excitedly told journalists after the match.
The Sudanese tactician on the other hand attributed his failure to secure the three crucial points at stake to lack of focus.
Action continues here tomorrow with Sudan taking on Zambia while Kenya will be against Djibouti.
The annual tournament, whose other group games are held at Namboole and Nakivubo, is scheduled to end with the final on January 13. The semis are set for January 11.
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