Bullish Azam vow to retain Kagame Cup

New Azam coach Hans van der Pluijm vowed to retain the Cecafa Kagame Cup.

The annual regional club football championship will be staged at the National and Chamadzi Stadiums in Dar es Salaam between June 28 and July 12.

Azam won the last edition of this competition staged in Tanzania back in 2015, defeating Gor Mahia 2-0 in the final.

The Dutch trainer said he was keen to emulate this feat.

“There are some good teams coming for this competition, St Georges, Rayon Sport, and of course Gor Mahia. But my employer has told me wants to see trophies, I also want to win and Cecafa is the best place to start,” said Plujim.

According to the draw of this competition conducted by Cecafa secretary general Nicholas Musonye in Dar on Tuesday, Gor Mahia will play Rwanda’s Rayon Sport, Burundi’s Lydia Ludic and Ports from Djibouti in Group B.

Tanzania’s Yanga are in Group C alongside arch rivals Simba, Ethiopia’s St George and Somali champions Dakadaha. Group A has Azam, Uganda’s KCCA, JKU from Zanzibar and Kator FC from South Sudan.

“The standards of football in the region are improving. You can see that from the performance of our teams in continental assignments. We will be displaying the best talents from this region for three weeks,” said Musonye.

Gor Mahia will be eyeing their first regional title in more than three decades. The tournament winner will pocket Sh3 million.

POOLS

Group A: Azam FC(Tanzania), Vipers SC (Uganda), JKU (Zanzibar), Kator FC (South Sudan)

Group B: Rayon Sport (Rwanda), Gor Mahia (Kenya), Lydia Ludic (Burundi), Ports (Djibouti)

Group C: Yanga (Tanzania), Simba (Tanzania), St George (Ethiopia), Dekadaha (Somalia)