Stars in do-or-die Afcon game
What you need to know:
- The encounter is scheduled to start at 10pm Tanzanian time, and Taifa Stars players are in top morale: able, willing and ready to record victory in the duel
Dar es Salaam. The confident national football team Taifa Stars today play a ‘must-win’ match against Equatorial Guinea so as to revive their hopes of qualifying for the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals to be held in Cameroon next year. Taifa Stars are third (with four points in the standings), while Equatorial Guinea are second, with seven points. The winner of this match will put one leg onto Afcon qualifications ground.
The encounter is scheduled to start at 10pm Tanzanian time, and Taifa Stars players are in top morale, able, willing and ready to record victory in the duel. Taifa Stars head coach Kim Poulsen said yesterday that the players know the importance of victory in this match, and have promised to do their best. Indeed, the players face a daunting task in an ‘away’ match. “We have trained well for the encounter, and the task ahead is for the players to bear the teachings in mind. We are playing against a team on their home ground. But, in football, a good team can win anywhere,” said Poulsen. According to him, Equatorial Guinea are one of the strongest football nations in Africa, and our players have to strain every nerve so as to record good match results.
Taifa Stars are third, with four points, while Equatorial Guinea are second, with seven points. The team’s skipper, Mbwana Samatta, is optimistic about doing well against Equatorial Guinea today - saying that they know what Tanzanians expect from them. “Although it is likely to be a tough encounter, our target is to win and improve our chances in the standings. We are aware that the match is not easy, but we will try hard to win the match,” said Samatta.
Meanwhile, Libya are set to host the first international football match on its soil in seven years, after African football chiefs lifted security restrictions on the country.
The north African nation will take on neighbours Tunisia in Benghazi on March 25, following an assessment late last month of the security conditions in that city and the country’s capital Tripoli by the continental soccer governing body CAF.
