The Islanders, who came into the tournament as minnows, have so far surpassed the expectation of many; as they remain perched at the summit of a tough Group ‘A’ with six points from two wins.
Zanzibar fired the first salvo in their opening match when they convincingly beat favourites Rwanda 3-1 before confirming their new found form with a 2-1 win against Tanzania in the subsequent outing.
With that impressive record, Zanzibar have quickly dropped the underdog tag into clear favourites of lifting the 2017 regional trophy.
Having beaten Kenya 3-1 in the last meeting in 2015, the visitors are clearly aware of the hostility from local fans they will need to battle with when they entertain the hosts in a high stake match.
“We are expecting a tough match and intimidating crowd, but am very optimistic about a good result,” said Ibrahim Ahmada, who was voted Man of the Match in the win against Tanzania.
The winner of the match will book an early place in the semi-final with a match to spare. Kenya are second with four points followed by Libya, who like Tanzania will be looking to stretch their point tally to four with a win against Rwanda.
