Twiga Stars eye World Cup finals after Uganda victory
Kilimanjaro Queens team captain Sophia Mwasikili hands over the recently won trophy to Airtel Tanzania managing director Sunil Colaso (centre) after a brief ceremony held at the mobile provider’s head office in Dar es Salaam. The team vistited Airtel to thank the firm for sponsoring the Airtel Rising Stars. Also in the picture are Tanzania Football Federation technical director Salum Madadi (right), Tanzania Women Football Association chairperson Amina Karuma (left) and Airtel Tanzania marketing director Isaack Nchunda. PHOTO | MAJUTO OMARY
Dar es Salaam. The Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) has said it will make sure the women’s national soccer team, Twiga Stars, qualifies for the 2019 Fifa World Cup finals scheduled for Paris, France.
The promise was made by the TFF secretary general Mwesigwa Celestine when he welcomed the Tanzania Mainland soccer team, Kilimanjaro Queens, who won the inaugural Senior East and Central Africa Challenge Cup held in Jinja, Uganda.
Mwesigwa said because most Kilimanjaro Queens players formed the Twiga Stars squad, TFF would ensure the team conducted regular training. He also promised them international friendlies in and outside the country.
TFF will work the Tanzania Women Football Association (TWFA) to continue scouting players for the national team from the various tournaments, such as Airtel Rising Stars (ARS), Copa Coca-Cola and the first edition of the women’s premier league to start very soon.
“We have already started the ‘Road to Paris’ programme. Our plan is to make sure the team qualifies for the World Championship and make history. TFF and TWFA will also fight to make sure the team enjoys training camps abroad and play friendly matches.”
He noted: “We will form a technical committee that will scout more players to feature in the team, we have an age category tournament which will see some of the players form the U-20 women national soccer team, The Tanzanite,” said Mwesigwa.
The 2019 Fifa Women’s World Cup will be the 8th edition of the tournament, the quadrennial international women’s football championship contested by the national teams of the member associations of Fifa.
In March 2015, France for the first time won the right to host the event. It will be the third time the World Cup is held in Europe. Matches are planned for 11 cities across France. The current format of the tournament features 24 national teams, including the host nation.
