TANZANIA U-20 national women team’s Head Coach, Bakari Shime says the focus now is the match against Senegal after seeing off neighbours Uganda.
Shime who led his team to post 4-2 aggregate victory against Uganda Hippos said in Dar es Salaam this week that the same discipline his charges utilised against Uganda will help them see off Senegal.
The first leg will be played at Senegal on 20th, 21st or 22nd March 2020 while the second leg will be hosted a week after the first playoff in Tanzania on 27th, 28th or 29th March 2020.
Shime said playing against a team for the first time might add an advantage to his charges as the opponents don’t know his team’s strength and weakness.
Tanzania U-20 women players have not tested Senegal, and Shime noted saying playing against Senegal, a team that they rarely meet will be an added advantage to Tanzanite than otherwise.
He said his charges put up a solid display in their both matches that earned them a comfortable 4-2 aggregate win.
Tanzania’s U20 women are pitted against Senegal in the second round of the 2020 FIFA World Cup qualifiers whose finals will be held in Costa Rica and Panama.
The Tanzanian side reached the next round after beating Uganda 2-1 in the return leg to advance 4-2 on aggregate. Tanzania had registered the same score line during the first meeting staged in Dar es Salaam.
“It was not easy job to beat Uganda bearing the fact the players know each other very well as they frequently meet in various competitions but when we won the first leg at home I knew it was our advantage to qualify,” Shime said.
“But, discipline was the main ingredient which highly enabled us to emerge winners.”
“The more international games these girls are exposed to is to a large extent building the desired confidence in them to face any opponent, including Senegal, our next opponent,” he added.
In 2017 Tanzania U-20 women team met with Nigeria (among the West African teams) after the preliminary stage lost by an aggregate 9-0.
Perhaps these results would picture how heavy the match will, as Senegal belongs to West African nations just as Nigeria.
Though it is obvious Nigeria is not Senegal hence comparing the two national teams is irrelevant.
But with the charge of Bakari Shime as the Head Coach there is less fear to Tanzania football supporters as Shime has been a tool of women national team’s success.
