AfricaPress-Tanzania: TAIFA Stars face a must win task against Namibia to rekindle their hopes of reaching into the quarterfinals of the progressing Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) in Cameroon tonight.
The game has been set to kickoff at 10:00pm (East Africa Time) of which the country’s envoys will be looking for nothing short than a victory in order to stand a chance of cruising into the last eight.
A 2-0 defeat they suffered from Zambia on Tuesday should definitely give them that ‘aggressive’ look ahead of tonight’s encounter which, like their opening match, is going to be tough.
Likewise, Namibia see this duel as their best chance to renew their hopes of penetrating farther in the contest as they too lost their first tie 3-0 from the current league leaders Guinea.
Therefore, the match will be between two injured bulls with each fighting for survival as such, the one with good stamina will stand tall after the sweaty 90 minutes of play.
The other classic match in group D will be between Guinea and Zambia whose winner will automatically book a ticket of jumping into the CHAN quarterfinals.
A draw between the two sides will take them to four points each hence anxiously waiting for the final round of games which will be a good judge on the two successful teams to sail deep into the contest.
However, speaking all the way from Cameroon, the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) Media and Communications Officer Clifford Ndimbo said the team is responding well to training sessions.
“The training sessions prior to our next match against Namibia are going on well and we are doing them at night so as to make players get used since the encounter will begin from 10:00pm. “We are also keenly assessing doctors report on the status of injured players (John Bocco and Ibrahim Ame) who missed the opening game to see if they can be featured on Saturday (today),” said Ndimbo.
However, veteran defender Erasto Nyoni is the only player present in the current Taifa Stars CHAN squad who also played in 2009 CHAN edition when Tanzania qualified for the first time.
He deserves respect and his leadership is needed on the pitch as he has vast experience on how it feels to play in such high profile competition.
He, however, flew late to join the team in Cameroon as he was reportedly resolving family problems as such, he was dropped in the first battle against Zambia and perhaps he will be included tonight.
