Crested Cranes needed an extra time goal to beat Ethiopia 1-0 to reach the final of the 2022 CECAFA Women’s Championship.
Being the same side they beat to qualify for this year’s Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, the victory stamped the regional dominance claim.
Moments after the game at FUFA Technical Center, Njeru on Friday, Crested Cranes deputy skipper Hassifah Nassuna noted that the win further proved that it is Uganda that deserved the WAFCON spot.
“We are all happy about this win but most importantly, we are excited about the fact that it has proved that we deserved to qualify for WAFCON,” Nassuna said.
“It was not by mistake, we put in a lot of effort to beat Ethiopia and qualify for WAFCON and we have defeated the same team to reach the CECAFA final.”
“And we believe that just like we carried ourselves as a unit from the beginning of this tournament, we shall still do the same, and hopefully we shall win the trophy,” she added.
Fazila Ikwaput the difference maker once again
Lady Doves WFC striker Fazila Ikwaput was the heroine of the day when she scored the only goal of the game in the 114th minute after both teams had drawn goalless in normal time.
In the WAFCON qualifier, the Cranes defeated Ethiopia 2-0 at home but they lost by the same scoreline away before advancing to the final qualification round after winning 2-1 in the shootouts.
Head Coach George Lutalo’s charges were given a bye in the final round of the qualifiers because Kenya who would have been their opponents pulled out and that is how Uganda qualified for its first WAFCON tournament since 2000.
In the CECAFA final, Uganda will take on Burundi on Saturday, a side with which they will represent East Africa in the WAFCON in Morocco in July.
Courtesy Photos
