Stars yet to break 1980 Afcon records
Taifa Stars striker Mbwana Samatta (second left) celebrates after scoring his team’s second goal during the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) football match against Kenya at the Cairo Stadium on Thursday. Taifa Stars lost to Harambee Stars 3-2. PHOTO | AFP
Dar es Salaam. National soccer team, Taifa Stars, players are facing an uphill task to break the record attained by their predecessors, who featured in the 1980 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals in Lagos, Nigeria.
Taifa Stars will tomorrow play against Algeria in their final match of the Groups Stage at the Al Salam Stadium in Cairo while another match will see Kenya hosting Senegal at the June 30 Stadium in Cairo. The matches have been scheduled to start at 9pm. Taifa Stars are yet to win or to record a draw in their two matches. They lost 2-0 to Senegal and 3-2 to Kenya in the second tie.
In the 1980 finals, which featured only eight teams when compared with 24 in this year’s competition, Taifa Stars collected one point from the three matches they played despite the fact that they finished at the bottom of the group “A” standings.
Taifa Stars lost 3-1 against the host, Nigeria, in their first match. Juma Mkambi scored a consolation goal for Taifa Stars in 54th minutes while Nigeria’s goals were scored by Mudashiru Lawal, Ifeanyi Onyedika and Segun Odegban.
In the second match, Taifa Stars lost 2-1 to Egypt whereby Thuweni Ali Waziri scored a consolation goal in the 86th. Egypt goals were scored by Hassan Shehata and Mosaad Nour.
Taifa Stars also recorded a 1-1 draw against Cote d’Ivoire in their last group’s stage match. The team came from behind to equalise through Waziri in the 59th minute. Cote d’Ivoire scored a goal through Koma Kobenan.
Stars finished at the bottom with one point, scoring three goals and conceding six. Nigeria finished top in group A with five points while Egypt placed second after collecting four points. Nigeria won the title with a 3-0 victory against Algeria.
So far, Taifa Stars have scored two goals while conceding five. As Waziri still remains the only player to score two goals in the competition, Simon Msuva and captain, Mbwana Samatta, are chasing the record after scoring one goal each. Striker Msuva is optimistic about getting the positive results in the encounter against Algeria.
“We want the best results against Algeria. In football, everything is possible. We call on all Tanzanians to support us,” said Msuva.
Taifa Stars captain Mbwana Samatta echoed Msuva’s comments, saying that they were learning through the competition.
