Warriors slump to heavy defeat

From Finny Muyeshi in NAIROBI, Kenya

ZIMBABWE slumped to a 1-4 defeat at the hands of Rwanda to crash out of the 2009 Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup here yesterday.

Rwanda will now meet Tanzania in the semi-finals tomorrow.

Both Rwanda and Tanzania recorded comprehensive victories over Zimbabwe and Eritrea at the Nyayo Stadium yesterday.

Lionel Mtizwa put Zimbabwe’s Warriors into the lead after eight minutes, but Rwanda hit back for a comprehensive win.

Ndayishimiye Yusuf (30 th minute), Ndamuhanga Tumaini (67th min and 76th min) and Haruna Niyonzima (90th min) were on target for the Wasps.

The win was the second, in as many days, for the Rwandese over the Southern Africans who lost 0-1 in their group match and only qualified as one of the two best qualifiers.

Zimbabwe coach Norman Mapeza said he was happy that his side had reached this far despite a very short training programme.

“This is not the team that won the recent Cosafa tournament. These are young up-and-coming boys and I am very satisfied with their performance,” he said.

The first semi final of this 12-nation tournament takes place today when the defending champions Uganda take on Zanzibar.

Sensational Mrisho Ngassa scored a hat trick in the 61st, 76th and 83rd minutes for Tanzania in their big win over Eritrea.

John Bocco was also on target for the Taifa Stars.

The fall of the Warriors meant that both the Southern African representatives fell in the quarter-finals after Zambia lost to Zanzibar.

Tanzania coach Marcio Maximo of Brazil said his team took time to adjust to their opponents.

“When they opened up, they could not stop us,” he said.

Eritrean coach Negash Negasi blamed the defeat on inexperience on the part of his young charges.

“I have the challenge of keeping them together and we shall soon have a very strong team,” he added.