Africa-Press – Tanzania. TWIGA Stars have dedicated their first 2021 COSAFA Women’s Championship win to president Samia Suluhu Hassan saying she is doing a lot to uplift women football in the country.
The country’s flag carriers produced a heavy 3-0 win over Zimbabwe on Wednesday at Port Elizabeth-Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in South Africa to collect maximum three points and sit on second slot in their group B. Leading the group are Botswana who pounded South Sudan 7-0 to top the table courtesy of goal advantage as they have tied on three points with the country’s envoys.
On third and fourth places are Zimbabwe and South Sudan respectively who are yet to register wins in the unfolding thrilling contest.
Tomorrow, it will be a clash between the table leaders against second placed (Botswana versus Tanzania) whose winner will reap six points in two games hence sitting comfortably at the summit of the log.
In her remarks after being picked as Man of the Match, Twiga Stars player Mwanahamis Omary said the victory was for president Samia Suluhu Hassan as acknowledgment for her tremendous work to scale up female football.
“We thank her because she is always there to support us. She should continue to give us full support in order to drive us forward to achieve our targets,” she said.
Furthermore, Mwanahamisi who play professional football at Morocco’s side Shabab Atlas lauded the teamwork spirit which she said was the driving force for their massive victory on the day.
“I believe that to be chosen the best player of the match does not come from individual effort but rather from the entire teamwork. This win will give us direction on where we want to reach since our primary target is to qualify for the women AFCON contest,” said she.
She added that they are trading at COSAFA as a guest team but insisted that the technical bench and players themselves will claim something important to be used in upcoming major contest.
On his part, Twiga Stars coach Bakari Shime said it was a difficult match which was facilitated by the waterlogged pitch following the downpour but saluted his players for a good performance.
“The nature of the pitch was worse in the opening half even though we managed to score one goal. In the second half, things improved and we scored two goals which was very important,” he said.
