AfricaPress-Tanzania: After reviving hopes of reaching into the quarterfinals of Africa Nations Championship (CHAN), Taifa Stars Head Coach Etienne Ndayiragije said he now works out a plan to gun down Guinea.
The country’s envoys produced a spirited fight to earn their first victory in the contest courtesy of a 1-0 win over Namibia on Saturday night at Limbe Omnisport Stadium in Cameroon which consequently revamped their chances to stay put in the campaign.
A 66th minute brilliant strike by Farid Mussa was enough to scale up Taifa Stars hence looking forward to their last fixture in group D against leaders Guinea on Wednesday who were forced to a 1-1 draw against second placed Zambia in an early match on the same day.
But, speaking after the sweet victory, Ndayiragije reiterated that he is now focusing on the next game against Guinea saying they are going to create a winning formula for the match.
“I am going to review our plan against Guinea in order to see what measures we can do to get positive results from them,” he said.
Adding, the coach pointed out that he is still waiting to get medical report from the team’s doctors on the status of skipper and striker John Bocco to see the possibility of featuring him in the approaching duel.
“For now, I am just focusing on the players who are already 100 per cent fit to play because they too have an opportunity to fight for our country because we did not come here to play but rather to win matches,” said him.
Moreover, Ndayiragije narrated that they learned something essential from their 2-0 loss from Zambia in their opening encounter of which they used to generate tangible results against Namibia.
“This is just the continuation of the good works we started doing in this tournament. I like to use what I have in hand and not thinking about something I do not have. This is the team I have at the moment and I will use it throughout the competition,” the coach said.
On his part, Taifa Stars goalkeeper Aishi Manula admitted that it was a tense match to them (players) and Tanzanians in general.
“Our target was to win at all cost to have a chance of going deeper into the contest. As such, we are thankful to God for helping us to reach our target and we now see the light at the end of the tunnel. “Frankly, it was a tough match since our opponents also had the same target to win the match. Just like us, they also lost their opening encounter as such, it was the fight for survival for both sides,” remarked Manula who made a couple of saves on the day to keep safe his side from conceding goals.
He also acknowledged that playing with new faces in the team gives them (senior players) a challenge to inspire and encourage them to do their utmost for the national team.
As it stands in group D, Guinea lead with four points similar to the second placed Zambia while Tanzania are third with three points as Namibia sit at the bottom pointless and goal-less.
