Taifa Stars midfielder Mwinyi Kazimoto (centre) fights for the ball against two Ivorian defenders during a Group C match of the 2014 World Cup qualifiers. PHOTO | COURTESY OF BIN ZUBEIRY
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The Dane was dismissed a few months later. He has been replaced by Dutchman Mart Nooij.
“We were on a very high level during the time of the Cote d’Ivoire first game. We had beaten Gambia and Morocco.
Dar es Salaam. As the World Cup continues in Brazil, midfielder Mwinyi Kazimoto believes that if it were not for referee Mehdi Abid Charef, Tanzania would be among the five countries from Africa at the soccer fiesta.
Kazimoto, who plays for Al Markhiya club in Qatar, says Charef’s ‘controversial’ decision was the major factor behind Taifa Stars’ failure to beat Cote d’Ivoire in a crucial match during the 2014 World Cup qualifiers.
In the Group C game where Taifa Stars were beaten at home, Kazimoto said, the referee gave an unworthy penalty to Cote d’Ivoire and the Elephants became the first team to qualify for the third and final round of the race for Brazil 2014.
Cote d’Ivoire, led by Didier Drogba who is best known for his career at Chelsea, defeated Stars 4-2 in an exciting encounter at the National Stadium.
“That was the biggest match for us after defeating Morocco 3-1, but the referee from Algeria helped to rob us of our strength and the defeat ended our slender hopes of making a maiden appearance in the World Cup finals,” says Kazimoto.
Kazimoto said yesterday that he suffers when he remembers the incident because it threw away the records that they planned to keep under coach Kim Poulsen.
The Dane was dismissed a few months later. He has been replaced by Dutchman Mart Nooij.
“We were on a very high level during the time of the Cote d’Ivoire first game. We had beaten Gambia and Morocco.
“We were in the second place in our group. We were only one point behind Cote d’Ivoire. “Our target was to make it to the group stage and play in the finals,” said Kazimoto.
A brace from Yaya Toure and a goal apiece by Lacina Traore and Wilfred Bonny are what killed off the strong resistance by a determined Poulsen’s team, which scored two fine goals through Amri Kiemba and Thomas Ulimwengu.
Taifa Stars failed to bounce back into second place after being leapfrogged by Morocco, who followed up with a 2-1 win over the Stars.
This paved the way for Cote d’Ivoire to become the first African team to qualify for the third and final round of the qualifying matches after amassing 13 points from five games.
