The Youngsters shared points with Qatar, after their hotly-contested
match ended in 1-1 draw on Sunday.
Earlier, the boys humiliated their Mauritanian rivals by 4-3 in the
opening match of the tournament which was played on 20th of October,
The Djiboutian youngsters, who are now classified as one of the
strongest teams in the competition, have made a good approach and so far stories
about them have been circulated in the news headlines around the region.
For the past two years, the youthful team has been under daily training sessions since they were short listed from school tournament some 20 months ago.
In his post election address on November 10 2012, the Djibouti Football
Federation president Souleiman Hassan Waberi announced football development
plans in particularly to build football from the bottom in a bid to hunt young
talented players from inter-school and regional levels tourneys.
In December 2013, the youthful boys had trained in Doha for two weeks to
help them catch up with the weather in Qatar, as the Gulf state was preparing
for hosting the youth tournament.
"As I pledged two years ago, my policy toward football development in
Djibouti targets school children and boys as young as 12 or 13, because
educating children under football is part of building football knowledge from
the bottom” the FDF president Souleiman Hassan Waberi told CECAFA Media.
The president pledged bonus for the boys if they win the tourney adding
that finishing 2nd is also a good result, but he was very hopeful
that the youngsters may win the trophy.
Meanwhile, in the capital Djibouti, hundreds of football fans have been
seen in the streets to celebrate the historic approach made by their U-17 boys.
The fans were chanting positive slogans, while waving the country’s
national flag, before they finally gathered outside the FDF headquarters in the
city centre.
Somali Football Federation Media Department
Email:somalifootballmedia@gmail.com