Kenya Police train guns on Ethiopian Coffee in do-or-die Kagame Cup match
Reading Time: 2min | Mon. 08.09.25. | 11:24
This year marks Police’s maiden Kagame Cup appearance, courtesy of last season’s league triumph
Kenya Police FC will take on Ethiopian Coffee FC this afternoon in a decisive CECAFA Kagame Cup Group A fixture at Isamuhyo Stadium, Dar es Salaam.
The Law Enforcers must win the 1 pm encounter to stand any chance of progressing to the semifinals.
Follow our WhatsApp channel for more news
With the tournament structured into three groups, only the winners of each group qualify automatically, while the best-placed runner-up across all groups joins them in the last four.
Police began their campaign with an emphatic 4-0 victory over Garde-côtes FC, but were later stunned 2-1 by Singida Black Stars, a setback that left their qualification hopes hanging by a thread.
Going into the final round, they sit third behind Singida and today’s opponents.
With Singida likely to ease past Garde-côtes in the other match, Police and Ethiopian Coffee are left battling for the group’s runner-up slot—and potentially the best loser’s ticket to the semifinals.
.jpg)
The two sides are familiar foes, having met last year in the CAF Confederation Cup first round.
After a goalless draw in Nairobi, Police won the return leg 1-0 in Addis Ababa to progress before bowing out against Egyptian giants Zamalek in the next round.
This year marks Police’s maiden Kagame Cup appearance, courtesy of last season’s league triumph.
Coach Etienne Ndiyaragijje is using the tournament to sharpen his squad ahead of the new campaign, which kicks off in less than three weeks.
Captain David 'Cheche' Ochieng believes the competition has been a valuable experience despite the defeat to Singida.
“We have won one match and lost one. But overall, it has been a good lesson for us. This tournament is helping us prepare not just for this competition but also for the new season,” he told Citizen Digital.
He added that unpredictability has been a challenge, given that teams are experimenting with different lineups.
“Each team is rotating players to find their best eleven, so it is hard to know who will start. But we have studied their playing style and we are ready,” Cheche noted.
Winger Eric Zakayo, who scored in the opening game, echoed the captain’s sentiments on the tournament’s unpredictability.
“Not all matches are the same. In the first game, we won easily, but in the second, we lost because the opponents were simply better on the day,” he said.
With everything on the line, Police will need to summon both resilience and quality against Ethiopian Coffee if they are to keep their Kagame Cup journey alive.
