Confident Stars kick off Chan campaign

Taifa Stars head coach Etienne Ndayiragije (centre) trains with the tam players at the Cantenery Stadium in Limbe, cameroon. Taifa Stars today play their first Chan encounter in group D against Zambia PHOTO | courtesy

What you need to know:

  • During the Chan 2009 matches played in the Ivory Coast, Tanzania drew 1-1 with Zambia. Tanzania’s goal was scored by Nsajigwa in an 88th penalty. Zambia equalized through Dennis Banda in extra time

Dar es Salaam. The Tanzania national football team Taifa Stars today face Zambia’s Chipolopolo national team in the African Nations Championship (Chan) at the Stade de Limbe in Cameroon. The Group D match is scheduled to start at 7pm Tanzanian time. Another match will see to Namibia facing Guinea, starting at 10pm. According to records, the two teams have played 31 matches together since May 31, 1967 - and Tanzania managed to record victory only five times.

Tanzania won against Zambia in July 8, 1967 with 2-1 victory in Lusaka. Then it won 1-0 in a Cecafa Cup contest in June 30, 1974 - and, on June 3, 1979, won an Africa Cup of Nations match. Tanzania also won 2-1 on November 24, 1981 during Cecafa Cup, and won on November 21, 2007 in an international friendly match. During the Chan 2009 tourney, Tanzania drew 1-1 with Zambia in Ivory Coast. Tanzania’s goal was scored by Shadrack Nsajigwa in an 88th penalty, while Zambia equalized through a Dennis Banda goal in added time. As per records, the two teams drew in nine matches, while Tanzania lost 17 times to Zambia. The last time that Tanzania and Zambia met was in July 5, 2017 - and Zambia won 4-2 in the Cesafa Cup held in South Africa.

The team’s head coach, Etienne Ndayiragije, said all his players are in top morale, ready for the encounter.

Ndayiragije said he has rectified all the mistakes they made in the international friendly match against DR Congo, and believe the players will give their best.

“We had good training, and we hope our players will show high levels of performance in the encounter. We have to take precautions all the time, though, as we are playing against a good team,” said Ndayiragije. The team’s assistant captain, Juma Kaseja, said they will make sure they win the encounter. “It will be a tough match, but we are ready for it,” said Kaseja.