Government content with Taifa Stars performance at Afcon finals

Dar es Salaam. The government has said that it is satisfied with a great performance put up by the national football team (Taifa Stars) despite failing to qualify for the top 16 of the ongoing 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals in Ivory Coast.

Taifa Stars, who recorded a barren draw against DR Congo in the last Group F match held on Wednesday night, were placed at the bottom after collecting two points from three matches.

Morocco topped the group with seven points while DR Congo were placed second with three and Zambia were third with two points.

Taifa Stars lost 3-0 to Morocco before recording a 1-1 draw against Zambia and later ending in a barren draw against DR Congo.

Speaking with The Citizen yesterday, Culture, Arts, and Sports Minister Damas Ndumbaro said the Taifa Stars players had put up an impressive performance in their last two matches of the group stage and would have qualified for the knockout stage had they won the games.

Ndumbaro explained that Taifa Stars were the lowest ranked team in Group F when compared to other sides. As per the world football governing body (Fifa)’s rankings, Taifa Stars are ranked 121st, Morocco sit 13th, DR Congo (67th) and Zambia are 84th.

The minister said even in the rankings of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Tanzania are still ranked the lowest as compared to Morocco, who are at the top, DR Congo are 13th, Zambia (17th) and Tanzania hold the 32nd position.

“So, you can see how our players have fought hard in the competition. Some giants were eliminated in the early stage with other teams having poor results,” said Ndumbaro.

The minister also explained that Taifa Stars comprise few players who feature in foreign leagues.

“We have Mbwana Samatta who plays for Paokm Solanika of Greece, Simon Msuva (Al-Najma, Saudi Arabia), Novatus Dismass (Shakhtar Donesk, Ukraine), Himid Mao (Taka’ea El Gaish, Egypt) and Haji Mnoga (Aldershot Town, England), the players are regulars in the team, but their number is the lowest when compared to other national teams,” he said.

Besides the five, the other players of Stars, who play abroad include Kwesi Kawawa who features for Karlslunds of Sweden, Miano Danilo (Vilena, Spain), Abdi Banda (Richardson Bay, South Africa), Morice Abraham ( RFK Novi, Serbia), Ben Starkie (Likeston Town, England) and Cyprian Kachwele, who plays for Vancouver FC of Canada).

Other Tanzanian players featuring abroad include Charles M’mombwa , who plays for Macarthur FC of Australia, Tarryn Allarakhia (Wealbstone, England), and Mohammed Ali Omar, who plays for Borenham Wood of England.

According to Ndumbaro, Taifa Stars also managed to collect two points in the competition they have just existed unlike in 1980 when the team collected only one point and in the 2019 edition held in Cairo, Egypt, the team did not win even a single match.

However, the minister urged the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) to take the tournament as a lesson ahead of the 2025 Afcon finals to be held in Morocco.

“We do not know our opponents, but we need to get prepared because there is significant development in African football when compared to the past. I can say that the number of underdogs has been reduced and teams have revolutionised the game,” said the minister.

For his part, Taifa Stars interim head coach Hemed Suleiman alias Morocco commended his players for the fighting spirit they had shown in the competition, insisting that proper preparations are the key for the team success. The coach admitted that the team has scoring problems, which, he said, should be worked upon ahead of the next tournament.

“We have good players in all departments, but they fail to score goals. We created many scoring chances, but we did not utilise them well. This affected us much, especially in our matches against Zambia and against DR Congo,” said Suleiman.

However, he predicted that in the near future, Tanzania will be among the football giants only if the authorities would introduce youth development programmes with adequate preparations.