Kenya’s assistant coach Anthony Akhulia has made it clear they are determined to try and win the CECAFA U18 Boys Championship as a reward to all Kenyans.

The Junior Stars of Kenya qualified for the final after a hard-fought 4-3 win in penalty shootouts against Tanzania in the second semi-final of the Zonal tournament played at the Jomo Kenyatta Stadium in Kisumu on Tuesday.

After playing 120 minutes without goals, it was Kenya’s goalkeeper Ibrahim Wanzala who was the man of the match saving two penalty kicks taken by Said Said and Sharif Wilson. The second semi-final saw Uganda edge Rwanda 1-0 with Abubaker Mayanja netting the lone goal after 54 minutes.

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Morley Byekwaso Ochama, the Ugandan coach said they will try to prepare better for the final because there will be a lot at stake. Kenya will now face Uganda in the final on Friday, while Rwanda take on Tanzania in the play-off for third place.

”We are happy that Kenyans have supported us since this tournament started last week and we ask them to come again and support us during the final which will be a tough match.” said Akhulia.

The coach made it clear that against Uganda they must make some tactical changes because they will face a strong side: “We believe the final will be very difficult, but we shall try and win it for the Kenyans.”

In the group stage, Kenya beat Sudan 5-0, followed up with a 1-0 win against Rwanda, and saw off Somalia 4-1. For Uganda, they started with a 1-0 defeat to Tanzania, stopped Zanzibar 2-1, and completed the group games with a 2-0 victory against South Sudan.