Twiga now face must-win tie against Congo

Dar es Salaam. The national women’s soccer team, Twiga Stars, coach, Bakari Shime has expressed confidence in his charges ahead of today’s match against DR Congo.

Twiga Stars head into the match knowing that nothing short of victory will guarantee them a place in the second round of the 2020 Olympic Games qualifiers.

“We have no issues troubling us. We are focused on the match,” Shime told The Citizen by phone from Kinshasa yesterday.

“We believe all is not lost. We can still progress to the next stage and go all the way to book a place in the Tokyo Olympics,” he added.

The first round, return leg match kicks off at 6.30pm (Tanzanian time) at the Stade des Martyrs in Kinshasa, DR Congo. Twiga, who succumbed to a 2-0 home defeat at the hands of DR Congo in the first leg last week, need a win of at least three clear goals today to sail through.

Last Friday’s match was an encounter they badly needed to win in order to ease pressure ahead of the return leg tie.

The Tanzanian girls staged their game before a sizable crowd at the 60,000-seater National Stadium.

Try as they did, they were doubly unsuccessful in that mission, and now pray for a miracle as they seek to join teams that have qualified for the next stage of the qualifiers.

Shime said his players know how important the game is, and that they are ready for the challenge.

“Our fans back home should expect positive results,” he said.

He added: “From the beginning, my aim is to guide my team to the 2020 Olympics.”

He said he has addressed the weaknesses he noted during the first leg.

Countries that are through to the second round of the 2020 Olympic qualifiers include Zambia and Côte d’Ivoire.

Also on the list are Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Kenya, Zimbabwe and South Africa.