Kenya U17 coach Salim Babu keeps AFCON qualification hopes alive despite loss to Tanzania

Kenya U17 coach Salim Babu believes his side are capable of making it to the Africa Cup of Nations despite starting their qualifiers on a losing note.

Babu’s side started the CECAFA AFCON U17 qualifiers with a 1-0 loss to Tanzania in Uganda on Wednesday and they now must beat Uganda on Saturday to revive their chances of progressing to the semi-final.

The qualifiers are a tightly-contested affair as only the finalists will make it to the continental championship, which will be held in Morocco in March 2025, and having guided the Kenya U20 to the Africa Cup of Nations, Babu believes he can do the same with the U17 team.

“It was a really a great achievement with the U20 and it would be great to repeat that again with the younger side,” Babu told Telecomasia.net.

“I believe we have a very good and strong squad that we have assembled in a very short time. The players are really hungry and motivated by their compatriots. They also want to achieve the same history and we will give our best to see that we get to that.”

Against Tanzania, Kenya fell to a 19th minute goal at the Nakivubo Hamz Stadium in Kampala and did not manage to recover despite their best efforts but Tanzania coach Agrey Moris was still full of praise for Babu’s boys.

“Kenya like to play with the ball on the ground and Uganda play long balls so we prepared for both and knew how we were going to approach the matches. I congratulate Kenya, they are a good team and my players followed the instructions well,” said Moris.

Tanzania now lead Group A with four points from two matches while Uganda have one after their 1-1 draw with the former, meaning Kenya must secure a win on Saturday to progress to the semi-final.