Mainland must win

Kilimanjaro Stars

Lacklustre Kilimanjaro Stars host Burundi in their final group A match of the Challenge Cup championship at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam today with only one option to post a victory.

With just three points dangling in their hands so far, Kilimanjaro Stars must beat Burundi if they are to be sure of the quarterfinal progression in the tourney.

Stars whose oscillating performance saw them losing the opener against explosive Zambia by a lone goal, have no other option beside beating Burundi to sail through.

Coach Jan Poulsen should bear in mind that Burundi will be hard nut to crack today as they also look for quarterfinal progression as well.

Stars unispiring display has resulted to loss of confidence to home fans as they only managed to beat the weakest side so far, Somalia by 3-2 goals on Tuesday.

Burundi who held Zambia to a barren draw on Tuesday have secured four points and they will be kicking off today’s match with extensive psychological composure looking for a draw.

A victory will be a bonus to Burundi while a loss would possibly take them to the next stage depending on points computations at the end of the preliminaries.

Zambia have already booked their quarterfinal berth after hamming the final nail to Somalia with six goal demolition yesterday. This is the biggest rout of the tourney so far.

While Somalia have already booked their elimination ticket, the tussle for the second spot is now between Kilimanjaro Stars and Burundi who have to settle scores this afternoon.

In another match played yesterday for group B, Zanzibar held Rwanda to a barren draw to end the preliminaries with four points.

Rwanda have also cruised into the quarterfinal stage with five points as they wait final verdict to judge the positioning in a match between Cote d’Ivoire and Sudan tomorrow.