Rwanda reach Cecafa semis

YesterdayQuarterfinalRwanda 4-1 ZimbabweTanzania 4-0 Eritrea TodaySemifinalZanzibar v Uganda 4pm SS3TomorrowTanzania v Rwanda 4pm SS3 NAIROBI - Rwanda’s Amavubi Stars are through to the last four of the 2009 Cecafa Orange Senior Challenge Cup after coming from behind to beat Zimbabwe 4-1 in their quarterfinal clash played last evening at Nyayo national stadium in Nairobi. Lionel Mutizwa gave the Cosafa champions an early lead with a well taken long range shot after just seven minutes but Rwanda’s leading scorer in the tournament Yussuf Ndayishimiye leveled the scored in the 31 minute. The Rayon Sport striker tapped home Amin Mwizerwa’s low cross from inside the six-yard for his third goal of the tournament. Midfielder Tumayine Ndamuhanga scored Rwanda’s second and third in a space of ten minutes in the 68 and 78 minutes before Haruna Niyonzima sealed the emphatic win with a brilliant individual strike in the 89th minute. The win means Eric Nshimiyimana’s experimental side has done a double over the Cosafa champions and will now meet Tanzania in the second semi-final on Thursday. Rwanda dominated the whole second half and could have won by a bigger score-line but at full time Nshimiyimana wasn’t complaining. “I am happy we’re through to the semifinal. We are playing well but we can also improve and that’s what we want to in the next game,” he told Times Sport after the game. About the last four clash with Tanzania he said, “Rwanda and Tanzania are two teams that know each other so well so it’s going to be a tough one for either team.” His opposite number of Zimbabwe Norman Mapeza remains defiant despite the heavy defeat, which completed back to back defeats at the hands of Amavubi in a space of four days. He said, “In the first half, we played well, controlled the game but in the second period, we made school boy mistakes, which cost us heavily.” Asked if Rwanda is a better side after the back-to-back defeats, the ex-Zimbabwe international said, “No, they are not.” Going into the last four stage, Rwanda is the only team with a hundred percent record after registering four consecutive wins. Earlier, Tanzania’s Taifa Stars thrashed Eritrea 4-0 to book their place in the last four. John Bosco Nsejizwa scored the first goal before Mrisho Ngasa added a quick-fire hat-trick. All goals were scored in the last 30 minutes. Ngasa is the tournament leading scorer with five goals to his name. The second day of the quarterfinal stage produced nine goals as compared to just one on day one when Uganda beat hosts Kenya 1-0. Zanzibar and Zambia drew 0-0 before the former progressed 4-3 on spot kicks. Ends

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Rwanda reach Cecafa semis