By Kei Emmanuel, Duku
South Sudan’s U-17 Junior National Team, the Bright Stars, suffered a 4-0 defeat to Al-Merriekh FC Bentiu in a friendly match on Thursday evening at Juba National Stadium.
The match was part of the Bright Stars’ preparations for the U-17 CECAFA Championship, scheduled for December 14-28, 2024, in Kampala, Uganda.
Chikidi Koang Jr. scored two goals for Al-Merriekh FC Bentiu, while Jack James and Philip contributed one goal each.
Following the loss to Al-Merriekh FC, the U-17 team bounced back with a 6-0 victory over Super Hero Academy on Friday morning. They concluded their friendly matches with a match against Citizens FC on Friday evening.
The team is expected to depart for Uganda over the weekend. As per the organizing committee’s requirements, all participating countries must report a week ahead of the competition to undergo mandatory magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) tests.
The U-17 Championship is an annual competition for players born in 2007. To be eligible, players must be under 17 years of age.
In the previous edition held in Algeria, South Sudan’s U-17 team was disqualified after several players were found to be overage. To avoid a similar incident, the South Sudan Football Association’s medical department, in collaboration with a CAF doctor, conducted MRI tests and verification processes on the 20 players in Juba. All players were deemed eligible to participate in the upcoming competition.