Different reactions as Kim signs 3-year deal with TFF

Dar es Salaam. Football stakeholders in the country have expressed different views on the appointment of Danish tactician, Kim Poulsen as the head coach of the national football team, Taifa Stars.

Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) said yesterday it signed a three-year contract with Poulsen who replaces Burundi coach Etienne Ndayiragije.

Ndayiragije - who was head coach of Azam FC - replaced Nigerian coach Amunike who also parted ways with TFF after failure of the team to do well in the 2019 Africa Nations Cup (Afcon) held in Cairo, Egypt.

The famous Burundi trainer was assisted by two local coaches, Juma Mgunda who is head coach of Coastal Union and Seleman Matola who is assistant coach of Simba Sports Club. Speaking yesterday, former Young Africans head trainer Kennedy Mwaisabula was in doubt if Poulsen was active in teaching football as he was here few years ago. Mwaisabula said to his knowledge Poulsen had left the country for a long time and there is no information if he was teaching club or national team after he was appointed to be head coach of FC Sonderborg in 2018.

“The record show that it is not less than two and half years that Poulsen was not in a team. May be there is hidden date about his team after 2018, I am not sure if TFF officials had been closely monitoring what the coach was doing. I know very well that Poulsen is a very good coach - especially in youth football. Most current (TFF) officials were not there during Poulsen’s time. But they appreciated his work - and that’s why they have brought him back,” said Mwaisabula.

Former TFF Competitions Director Saad Kawemba admitted that Poulsen is a good coach for the youths and not senior teams. He discerned this when he was working for TFF.

“When I was with TFF, I admit we made a mistake in dropping the youths team and going for big teams following his success,” he said.

TFF said Poulsen will help the country to meet its footballing targets internationally. Kim has the task of making Tanzania to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations finals to be held in Cameroon next year - as well as the Fifa World Cup tournament to be held in Qatar.

Poulsen is well-known by football stakeholders after giving exposure to some notable players in the country when he was in charge of youth national teams.

He managed to build a strong youths foundation in 2011 and 2012 whereby players like Thomas Ulimwengu, Salum ‘Sure Boys’ Abubakari and Frank Domayo - to name only three - were groomed by the Danish tactician when he was head of national football development for the Tanzania national team.

After two years in Tanzania as Taifa Stars coach, Poulsen returned to Denmark and his hometown of Sonderborg where he was appointed manager of FC Sonderborg on a three-year contract.