Thursday@12:45pm:

Rwanda v Sudan SS9East and 5

Thursday@3:45pm:

Ethiopia v Uganda SS9East and 5

Uganda Cranes  remains on course for an unprecedented 14th Cecafa Cup but coach Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic’s men face a stern test to overcome tournament hosts Ethiopia Walia Ibex  in the semi final to be played today at the National Stadium in Addis Ababa with the hosts buoyed by their massive and very passionate home supporters the game is set for a ding dong battle.

After a slow start to the campaign losing 2-0 to Kenya’s Harambee Stars , The Cranes quickly found their stride  with three wins on the bounce. Therefore, they go into the semis as favourites with the best defence, attack and arguably the tournament’s outstanding player in skipper Farouq Miya.

Of the 13 Cecafa Cups The Cranes have won, seven have been on home soil and on the other six occasions they lifted the trophy, Uganda has had to eliminate the host countries at some stage. Indeed, The Cranes’ triumph in 2011 came after an absorbing semifinal shootout win over Tanzania in Dar es Salaam.

Today’s  game has the hallmarks of a do-or-die encounter as hosts Ethiopia brace themselves for a tough battle incidentally both teams will represent the Cecafa region in the upcoming CHAN 2016 to be hosted by Rwanda who will be involved in the other semi final.

The Ethiopians have surely ridden their luck in front of their own fans. They were soundly beaten by Rwanda in the opener 1-0  as they recovered to beat Somalia 2-0 then earning a 1-1 draw with Tanzania coming back in the last minute.Walia Ibex finished the job off in the quarter finals beating Tanzania on post match penalties once again coming from behind to hold them 1-1 in the quarter final.

Coach Yohannes Sahle is upbeat and not overly worried by the Uganda Cranes impetus as he told soka25east.com “we are going to give Uganda Cranes a run fro their money i have told my players to fight in the entire 90 minutes as they are just one game away from the final and it will be a great opportunity to give the fans something to smile about as the tournament gets to the penultimate stage”

On his part coach Micho is calm ahead of the game having the advantage of knowing Ethiopia style of play as he was once the St.George coach “it will be a tough but nice game we hope to continue with our good run but we have to be cautious and play a tactical game that can guarantee us the much needed win”.

Uganda Cranes and Ethiopia Walia ibex have met 35 times, 10 of these in Cecafa Cup. Uganda has won 14 encounters while the Ethiopians have emerged victorious on 13 occasions, with eight draws between them.

The two countries last met in November, 2014 for friendly match aimed at sensitizing the public against the scourge of HIV/Aids. The Cranes triumphed 3-0 at Namboole stadium.

Collins Okinyo

Ex- CAF Media Expert. An expert on African football with over 15 years experience ,always with an ear to the ground with indepth knowledge of the game. I have worked for top publications including 7 years at www.supersport.com until i founded www.soka25east.com to quench the thirst of football lovers across the continent. I have trained young upcoming journalists who are now a voice in African football.I have covered World Cup,AFCON,CHAN,Champions League,Confederations Cup,Cecafa,Cosafa,Wafu and many other football tournaments across the World. Founder Football Africa Arena(FAA),Founder www.afrisportdigital.com