AfricaPress-Tanzania: TANZANIA’s senior national team ‘Taifa Stars’ head coach, Kim Poulsen, says his charges are ready for this afternoon’s international friendly match aganist Kenya’s Harambee Stars at Nyao Stadium in Nairobi.
The two teams will again lock horns in a fixture, to be played at Kasarani Stadium on Thursday.
Poulsen noted his charges are well prepared for the match which will be his first as the national team head coach.
The coach said he will use the game to assess his charges ahead of two crucial Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Qualifiers’ games against Equatorial Guinea and Libya, set to take place at the end of this month.
“We have two difficult games and our mission is to win. We are targeting an AFCON slot, the good thing is that the morale is high, of course its a friendly match, but all the players are in good shape ready for the encounter,” he said.
Taifa Stars are positioned third in Group J of the quest a place in the continental competition.
Tunisia, Libya and Equatorial Guinea are also the group’s contenders.
Taifa Stars’ chances of reaching a second successive AFCON finals were dealt a blow after recording 1-1 draw with Tunisia, who are leading the group.
However, a victory over Equatorial Guinea would bring the team back into contention.
Poulsen says he is confident of qualifying for the Cameroon 2021 finals, maintaining his squads needs good preparations.
The team are made up of many local players. The foreign-based players who have joined camp are Egypt’s ENPPI midfielder Himid Mao, Nassor Saadun who plays for MFK of Czech Republic, Kelvin John of Brook House College of United Kingdom (UK) and Morocco-based Nickson Kibabage, who plays for Yossufia FC.
Coach Poulsen stated Simba players who are involved in CAF Champions League clash against Al Merreikh of Sudan, will join the national team after their side’s fixture, to be played tomorrow.
Other foreign-based players joined Taifa Stars camp on FIFA-sanctioned days.
In a previous interview, Poulsen said he is happy that his squad is made up of both young and experienced players, a situation which is giving the team the much needed balance.
“I am happy with the squad, currently we have 22 players in camp, but what makes me more happy is the balance in the squad. I have a mixture of both young and old that is good for the current and the future of the national team,” he said.
The Dane said the mission is to see to it Taifa Stars qualify for AFCON finals and noted he is during the training working on attacking, defending and transition.
He stated: “Although we don’t have enough time to prepare well for the international friendly matches, we are working hard on scoring as the aim is to score more goals.”
”We are also working on defending so as we do not concede more goals, the focus is as well on transition (midfield) which is very important in balancing and distributing the ball,” he said.
Harambee Stars are coached by Jacob Mulee and they will use the friendly matches to prepare for AFCON qualifiers against Egypt and Togo.
Taifa Stars and Harambee Stars last met in a competitive match on December 19, 2019 and the latter won 2-1.
The last international friendly match bringing together the two squads took place on May 29, 2016, it ended in 1-1 draw.
The teams have met 53 times, with Kenya having an upper hand. They have won 24 times, lost 15 games and 14 fixtures have ended in 1-1 draw.
