Hosts Tanzania hope to maintain a sequence of successful CECAFA Challenge Cup title defences when the annual regional competition kicks off this weekend.
Ethiopia, Sudan and Uganda won the Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations showcase tournament twice in a row since 2004 and Tanzania used home advantage to defeat 'guests' Ivory Coast 1-0 in the final last year.
The Kilimanjaro Stars launch their defence Saturday against Rwanda in Dar es Salaam and will also face probable whipping boys Djibouti in Group A, which has been reduced to three teams by the last-minute withdrawal of Namibia.
Tanzania and Rwanda advanced to the second round of the 2014 World Cup qualifying competition this month with wins over Chad and Eritrea respectively and seem certain to advance to the Challenge Cup knockout phase.
Djibouti is a tiny nation on the Horn of Africa and rank among the weaklings of African football as recent four-goal home and away hidings by Namibia in a World Cup qualifier demonstrated.
"We have picked a winning squad and I can assure you the title will remain in Dar es Salaam," boasted Tanzania coach Jamhuri Kihwelu to reporters as his nation prepared to become the first to stage the Challenge Cup twice in a row.
The squad is expected to be boosted by three foreign-based stars -- Thomas Ulimwengu and Mbwana Samata from four-time African club champions TP Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nizar Khalfan of Vancouver Whitecaps.
Uganda have won the tournament a record 11 times and a squad coached by Scot Bobby Williamson are favoured to top Group B, which includes former champions Zanzibar and Burundi and Somalia.
The clash of Zanzibar and Burundi should settle who finishes runners-up while damage control is going to be a priority for Somalia, who enter the Challenge Cup smarting from a five-goal World Cup hammering in Ethiopia.
Every football tournament has a so-called 'Group of Death', which stands out as the toughest to qualify from, and Group C in Tanzania fits the bill perfectly with Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi and Sudan.
All are former champions and all will believe they can make the last eight of a competition where group winners and runners-up automatically advance and the best two third-place sides progress too.
Kenya last lifted the trophy nine years ago in Dar es Salaam and new coach Francis Kimanzi believes the Harambee Stars can build on a convincing World Cup triumph over the Seychelles and bring the Challenge Cup back to Nairobi.
"I want players who are fit, disciplined and committed and those chosen for Tanzania are equal to the task. They can make Kenyans proud during this championship and go all the way," he said.
Sudan are the only team from the region to qualify for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, Malawi have promoted defender Maxwell Masiyano after stand-out domestic form and Ethiopia aim to better a fourth-place finish last year.
Source: AFP
