Preview: Black Satellites, 7 others set for crunch Olympic Games qualifiers

The race for Africa's three tickets to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro kicked off on Friday.

Eight teams will qualify for a CAF U-23 Championship in Senegal later this year, with the top three teams booking their places at the 31st edition of the quadrennial multisport event.

Kenya ’s U23 side suffered a crushing 3-0 defeat at the hands of Botswana ’s Young Zebras in the first leg of an Olympic qualifier played on Friday night at Lobatse Sports complex in Gaborone.

Other first legs of the first round of qualifying will see more teams being involved in games this weekend with the winners joining the 16 teams who drew a bye to the second round.

Black Satellites
Ghana , the most high profile of the six, will be hosting Liberia in Tamale on Sunday without their foreign-based players, forcing coach Malik Jabir to hand a surprise call-up to striker Richard Gandze of second-tier side Ebusua Dwarfs.

Liberia has been boosted by the presence of three foreign-based players, namely; Herron Scarla Berrian of Greek side, Platanias, Cote d'Ivoire-based Sporo Somah and Cooper Gaypia of the University of Mt. Olive in the United States of America.

In the third game of the weekend which will be played in Kigali, Rwanda host Somalia in a regional derby at the Amahoro Stadium. It will be a first competitive match for Amavubi coach Johnny McKinstry, who doubles as the Olympic team trainer.

The 29-year old Northern Irishman is happy with his charges preparations for the game against the Somalis guided by Uganda-born Charles Mbabazi. He would have Italy-based Bon Fils Kabanda, Solomon Nirisarike of Belgian side, Royal Antwerp and USA-based Yves Rubasha for the game.

The second leg matches will take place in a fortnight.

FIXTURES
FRIDAY
Botswana 3-0 Kenya
SATURDAY
Rwanda vs Somalia
SUNDAY
Ghana vs Liberia
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Story by Ghana/Joy Sports/Gary Al-Smith