Eritrea have qualified for the quarter finals at the on-going regional Cecafa U-20 Challenge Cup after demolishing Djibouti 7-0 in a Group A match played on Wednesday.

The Eritrean team took a 2-0 half time lead with goals by Michael Robel Reklem and Ali Suleiman Ibrahim at the Pece War Memorial Stadium in Gulu Town.

In the second half the Djibouti team that had already lost two of their games tried to play a highly defensive game but failed to contain the Eritrean team.

Djibouti’s defender Souhaib Hassan Rayaleh was later yellow carded for a dangerous foul.

Mewal Tesfai Yosief, Eritrea’s leading scorer at the tournament later netted two quick goals to make it 4-0. Simon Asmelash Mekonen, Michael Habte Gebremeskel and Ismael Sitan Jahar later added their names on the score sheet.

Eritrea finished top of Group A with a better goal difference than Sudan and Uganda who later drew 2-2 in the second game.

Head coach Efem Alemseged said he was happy with the big win as they look forward to the knock out stage.

Group A standings

              P    W   D    L   GF  GA  A    Pts

Eritrea  3     1    2    0   11    4    7     5

Sudan   3     1    2    0     9    5    4     5

Uganda 3    1    2    0     8    4    4     5

Djibouti 3    0    0    3     1  16  -15   0