This archive report was first published on 4 December 2019.
December 4, 2019, marked a tough day for Kenya's Under-16 national team as they were eliminated from the Copa Coca Cola Africa Cup after losing 5-4 to Tanzania in a penalty shootout at the M-Pesa Foundation Academy in Thika.
Both teams played a goalless draw in regular time, forcing the match to go into penalties. The Tanzanian players, Mohammed Rai, Edward Benard, Paul Nyerere, Frank Stephanie, and Ibrahim Kasimu, successfully converted their spot kicks, while Kenya's Harony Ndile had his effort saved by the goalkeeper.
Kenya's coach, Daniel Lenjo, acknowledged the tough opponent, saying, "We did our best but failed in our game plan. However, we take this as a hard lesson and live to fight another day as we prepare for Zambia in third place play-offs, we have to finish strongly,"
Tanzania's coach, Abel Mtweve, expressed his team's elation at reaching the final, stating, "Kenya is a good team and we were extremely nervous playing against them. We bowed out of the competition too early last year and we came back with a mission of getting to the finals and winning the cup, so we left nothing to chance,"
Meanwhile, in the other semi-final match, Zimbabwe edged Zambia 4-3 in a penalty shootout after the two teams settled for a 2-2 stalemate in regular time.
