After beating Ethiopia 3-1, the Zanzibar national team became the first team to qualify from Group C, to the next round of the CECAFA championships. In this same group Sudan and Zanzibar ended their game in a draw just four days ago. Ethiopia now has one more chance to qualify with its next game scheduled on December 15.

The recent defeat means Ethiopia must beat Sudan on Saturday to qualify for the quarter-finals. If Ethiopia wins, the team will have to face the runner-up from group A, which would be either Tanzania or Burundi.

The other horn of Africa nations have not fared well, either. Somalia lost both its games to Burundi and Tanzania. Kenya and Somalia are at the bottom of the rankings in Group A.
Djibouti became the first team to be eliminated from the tournament after losing 7-0 to Uganda, 9-0 to Rwanda and 3-2 to Eritrea.  If Ethiopia loses to Sudan or ends in a draw, it will also be eliminated from the tournament. 
 
Since the tournament got its current name in 1973 (European calendar), Ethiopia has won the CECAFA tournament four times. Three of its championship wins came after 2000.  But this year’s Ethiopian team has many inexperienced players and wasn’t expected to perform well.
 

Group C



    Teams            P     W     D     L    GF    GA    PTS                 1   Zanzibar         2     1     1     0     5     3      4               2   Sudan            1     0     1     0     2     2      1                 3.  Ethiopia         1     0     0     1     1     3      0