Do or die Chan duel for Stars in Kenya
National soccer team, Taifa Stars, players train at the National Stadium gearing for the Champions of African Nations (Chan) match against Kenya’s counterpart, Harambee Stars. Taifa Stars meet Harambee today at Moi International Sports Centre in Nairobi. PHOTO | Michael Matemanga
What you need to know:
If the two teams finish the regulation time with a barren draw, the penalties shout out rule would be used to pick the winner
Dar es Salaam. National soccer team, Taifa Stars, today face an uphill task of downing their Kenyan counterparts in the Champions of African Nations (Chan).
The encounter, which is anticipated to be thrilling given the history of both sides, will take place at Kasarani Moi International Sports Centre from 4pm. In the match, Taifa Stars will be seeking at least a 1-1 draw, Harambee Stars need a solid 1-0 victory in order to advance to the next round.
Taifa Stars interim coach Etienne Ndayiragije said his players were focused ahead of the encounter and were ready.
Ndayiragije said all mistakes that caused them not score in the first leg duel have been addressed and the task now remains for the players to apply and deliver the best results.
He said players have responded well to their training and their morale is very high.
He said all players demonstrated fighting spirit during the training and ready to fight for their nation.
“Players want to prove their worth in the game. They will fight to the maximum in the encounter. We need to play with determination and win at the away soil, we have covered all technical and tactical aspects of the game,” said Ndayiragije.
“It is not a gap as we have chosen players with alternative positions, we do not underrate Lesotho who beat us in 2015, we need to be very keen all over the match and win against them,” said Ndayiragije.
Harambee Stars head coach, Sebastien Migne said they know how strong Taifa Stars are, but his players were ready to give their best in the encounter.
Migne said they have studied their opponents and how they played in past matches and noted that there were quite a few dangerous players and hence have worked on strategies that would see them contained during the encounter.
“It is a very important match to us. We want to qualify for the next round. We need victory as the barren draw will take us to the penalties.
As a coach, I have taken tactical and technical matters to make sure our opponent players are not giving us trouble.
“We are here for victory. I cannot underrate the Tanzanian side due to our 3-2 victory in Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in Cairo, Egypt in June. I know they want to revenge,” he said.
