THE national women U-17 and U-20 have stepped up to training sessions ahead of their return leg matches against Burundi and Uganda respectively.
Both teams are training under their Head Coach, Bakari Shime who looks forward to win the both away games in Bujumbura, Burundi and Kampala Uganda.
The U-17 team defeated Burundi 5-1 in Dar es Salaam while the U-20 came from a goal-down to beat Uganda Hippos 2-1 at the same venue.
It is a good advantage for the U-17 team as they just need to avoid a 4-0 loss in Bujumbura while the U-20 team must force a draw to advance to the next round.
The U-17 that claimed a massive win over Burundi on January 12th, will be away to face Burundi again in the second leg match at Intwar Stadium on Sunday, January 26th this year.
“Our players are ready to face both Burundi and Uganda with confidence to advance to the next stage, we have done a lot of training to build coordination and strength,” Bakari said.
“Tanzanians’ should keep on supporting their national teams as these training programmes will be more fruitful in next two or three years. Tanzanians should be more patient with the teams’ performance in case we lose a game on the journey, they should understand that those are just a few mistakes that can be corrected,” he added.
Shime’s dream is to see Tanzania qualify for AFCON and Women World Cup final as he believes qualifying and participating in those competitions will build a name for his team and individual players.
“There are many good players who I train, if we qualify to the next stage, I believe, there is an opportunity for individual players to be spotted by many clubs from Europe, Asia, America…we are now putting our focus to qualify in both competitions.”
As well, Shime has asked the Tanzanians to believe in him and the team, especially in the coming games and that the supporters should not worry on those players who serve both teams as he has a workable plan that will ensure they do well in both games.
Other Sunday match included Sierra Leone and Senegal where Sierra Leone lost 1-0 in the first leg at home. The winner of their match will meet the winner of the match between Tanzania and Uganda.
