Shock as Stars take ‘disgraceful’ plunge

Dar es Salaam. The recent spate of bad results have pushed Tanzania further downwards in the Fifa world rankings, as the country has fallen 16 more places in the list published yesterday.

Tanzania fell from 144th place to 160th place in the comprehensive list comprising 211 countries.

Only South Sudan, Gambia, Seychelles, Djibouti Eritrea and Somalia have a worse placing than Tanzania among African countries.

Taifa Stars massive drop has come following a 3-0 bashing by Zimbabwe less than a fortnight ago in a friendly match played in Harare.

Stars, who are under Charles Mkwasa, have not won any match this year and this is the worst ranking since September, 2006 when they were placed 167.

The ranking has shocked some top coaches, retired players and pundits with most of them railing against the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) for the disgraceful fall.

Tanzania Prisons head coach Abdul Mingange apportioned blame on the TFF for a “failed management”, saying they are to shoulder the blame for Stars woes.

“We have invested heavily in football, but instead of making progress, we are nose-diving speedily. We don’t deserve to be in the 160th place at all,” said Mingange.

“If the TFF keeps on taking things for granted, I am sure that we will slide to the bottom. This must serve as a wakeup call.

“There are many issues that they must address; league fixtures don’t favour Stars, some teams are favoured and dearth of indigenous coaches, and the available ones are despised. We can’t get anywhere if the TFF does not wake up.”

Former Simba and Taifa Stars striker Dan Mrwanda said Mkwasa is not to blame, but the TFF is.

“You can’t blame Mkwasa for Stars woes. This is an outcome of poor management. There are many issues that need to be addressed including this craze of hiring foreign players,” said Mrwanda.

“Instead of decreasing the number of foreign players the TFF did quite the opposite. These get more playtime than the locals, something which weakens the national team. We need our players to get more playing time at their clubs otherwise we will drop to the bottom.”

Clubs to blame

Former Yanga and Stars player, Tito Andrew also leaped to the defence of Mkwasa, saying clubs were to blame for the national team’s tumble.

“Honestly, the premiership isn’t competitive enough to produce players who will help Taifa Stars. The hype is immense but the quality of players is wanting,” Andrew said.

“Every club nowadays goes for a foreign player and when they sign them they give them more playing time. However, you can’t differentiate them with the locals. This is what is killing our game.”

Meanwhile, Brazil has risen to the second spot behind Argentina, with South American teams taking three of the top four spots. Argentina lead despite a 3-0 loss to Brazil in a World Cup qualifying match this month. It also has not won a major title in the four-year cycle of results that decide the rankings.

World Cup champions Germany dropped one spot to third place, while Copa America champion Chile climbed two to No. 4. Costa Rica, up to No. 17, swapped with 18th-place Mexico. The United States dropped four to 28th after losing to both. Iran leads Asian teams at No. 30, falling three places, while Senegal is Africa’s top-ranked team at No. 33.

Italy dropped three places to 16th while England lost one place and is now 13th.

(Additional reporting: Suleiman Jongo )