National champions Olympic football girls’ team claimed silver in the Airtel Rising Stars African Secondary School tournament that ended in Lagos, Nigeria last Sunday.
Olympic lost 0-1 to Tanzania in the final played at the Agege Township stadium in Lagos, Nigeria.
The lone goal in the evenly contested match was scored by Donisia Daniel in the second half.
Olympic sailed to the finals after beating Nigeria 3-2 on post-match penalties, while Tanzania hammered Uganda 8-1.
Speaking after the match, Olympic head coach Maurice Okumu lamented that the best team lost. “We had more chances than Tanzania who had one chance which they utilised well,” said Okumu.
The tactician added that the outing was good exposure for his players and the team look forward to a bright future.
“When we talk about exposure it means competing regularly at high level. My players have had that opportunity and they proved they are among best ones on the continent,” Okumu said.
The Tanzanian’s coach Abel Mtweve was ecstatic: “It is amazing. Tanzania has never qualified from the group stages for the final of any competition for 20 years. This young generation of footballers are just about 14, 15 years of age. So, expect more from us in future”.
In the boys’ division, Niger successfully defended their title after defeating Zambia 7-6 in a penalty shoot-out after the match had ended 1-1 during regulation time.
Best team
Niger has been the best team at the week-long event winning all their matches. They scored an impressive 12 goals and conceding only three in six matches.
Kenya’s representatives had a bad outing finishing bottom of group C after collecting only one point from three matches.
The second Kenyan team- Upper Hill were eliminated at group stage.
Upper Hill and Olympic qualified for the continental show by virtue of winning National Secondary School Championships.
Organised by Airtel, The Airtel Rising Stars Africa championship is an annual football tournament that brings together the best U-17 players from 16 African countries. The finals of the 2013 edition, which took place in Lagos, Nigeria, was attended by Arsenal legend Robert Pires.
By Oscar Pilipili, The Standard
