Kenya’s Rising Stars will aim to seal qualification to next year’s Under 20 Africa Cup of Nations tournament when they come up against Burundi in the semifinals of the CECAFA qualifiers on Friday evening at the Azam Complex Stadium in Tanzania.Rising Stars, who went unbeaten in the group stages to finish top of Pool A with 10 points, will come on as huge favourites against a Burundi side that finished second in Pool B in the 1900 EAT kickoff.The game will follow the other semifinal clash between hosts Tanzania and Uganda kicking off at 1500 EAT.The two finalists will effectively book their place in the 2025 AFCON U20 tournament, whose venue is yet to be announced.Coming off back-to-back 4-0 wins against Djibouti and Sudan, Kenya will go into the contest hopeful of securing their first trip to the new-format U20 AFCON Championships, having only featured once in the then African Youth Championship in 1979.Kenya a game away from maiden U20 AFCON after Aldrine Kibet’s hat-trick against SudanOn top of being the tournament’s second-best goal scorers, Kenya had the meanest defense in the group stages, conceding only once to Tanzania in their opening qualifiers contest.Burundi, on the other hand, won twice in the group but also suffered a 4-1 humbling in the hands of Uganda.Speaking ahead of the pivotal clash, Kenya’s head coach Salim Babu told CECAFA-Online: “We have been together with these players even at the U18 level and they are hungry to qualify.”##NAJAVA_MECA_8415679##Gustave Niyonkuru, the Burundi coach who was also in charge of their women’s team at the 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, meanwhile made it clear that although they respect the Kenyan team, his players are very determined and ready to fight for the national flag.Kenya’s leading scorers Kelvin Wangaya and Aldrine Kibet are expected to lead the attack, while Burundi will look to Christophe Ndayikengurukiye and Ramazani Hakizimana to pull an unprecedented upset.England soils Kenya’s valiant FIFA U17 World Cup debut
