Singida Black Stars coach Gamondi attributes historic CECAFA win to quality of squad

Tanzanian Premier League club Singida Black Stars head coach Miguel Gamondi has credited his new signings for help the club to lift their first-ever CECAFA Kagame Cup after defeating Al Hilal Omdurman 2-1 in the final at the KMC Stadium in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on Monday.

Zambia international, who joined Singida from record Tanzania league champions Young Africans, netted on either half to guide Singida sink the Sudanese side. He put Gamondis’ team ahead after 21 minutes with a tight finish, before he squeezed in the second from a tight angle.

Al Hilal Omdurman, who are the Sudan Premier League champions, snatched a goal later courtesy of Soufiane Farid, but it was enough to stop Singida from winning the trophy.

“As a coach, you can’t win games and trophies if you don’t have good players. That was key for us throughout the tournament. I hope the people of Singida are happy, and above all, that we can gain new fans along the way,” Gamondi told the Guardian.

“We celebrate for now, but we will turn our focus quickly ahead of the new season. We have the players to achieve our objectives and ensure we qualify for the group stages first.”

Singida’s journey was impressive

Drawn in Group A alongside reigning FKF Premier League champions Kenya Police, Garde Cotes from Djibouti, and Ethiopian Coffee, the team started with a hard-fought 0-0 draw against Ethiopian giants.

The winners received gold medals and cash prize of US$30,000, the runner up US$20,000 and silver medals, and the third placed APR FC (Rwanda) who stopped KMC FC in a play-off match 1-0 picked bronze medals and US$10,000. Wallace Karia, CAF Executive member and President of the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) was the guest of honour.

The tournament sponsored by Betika attracted 12 teams from Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, Zanzibar, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Sudan, South Sudan and Djibouti.

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