Midfielder Robel Tekle Michael will skipper Eritrea’s national team during the 2019 CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup which kicks off in Uganda on Saturday.

Tekle captained Eritrea to third place in the CECAFA U-20 Challenge Cup that took place in Uganda in October this year after they stopped Sudan 1-0 in the play-off.

Head coach Haile Efrem Alemseghed told enffonline.com in an interview at the Silversprings Hotel in Kampala on Friday night that the technical bench decided Tekle captains the team so that he keeps growing as a leader.

The coach said they have included about 13 players who were part of the U-20 team that won bronze in October together with some senior players who featured against Namibia in the 2021 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

“We are building a strong team for the future and therefore we decided to mix the young players and some senior players to get balance in the team,” added Alemseghed.

Eritrea will open their campaign with a Group A game against Burundi on December 9^th before they take on Uganda two days later. Eritrea will battle Djibouti in their last group game on December 15^th at the StarTimes Stadium, Lugogo.

Group A: Uganda, Burundi, Eritrea, Somalia, Djibouti

Group B: Tanzania, Sudan, Kenya, Zanzibar