EDITORIAL: All the best for our Taifa Stars in their crucial tie

The national soccer team, Taifa Stars, encounter the Uganda Cranes team in a Group-L qualifiers match at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam from 7pm tomorrow.

This is a ‘must-win’ match for either team in seeking to qualify for the finals of the ongoing 32nd biennial Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) tourney slated to end in Egypt July 19.

Indeed, the match is crucial for Taifa Stars if we are to qualify for the Afcon quarter-finals for the second time since 1980 when Tanzania last reached that stage in the Championships in Lagos, Nigeria, 39 years ago.

Taifa Stars is currently placed third after collecting five points. Lesotho – which has also collected five points – is second in terms of goals averages, while Cape Verde is at the bottom of the Group’s rankings, with four points.

Uganda has already qualified for the Afcon Finals in Cairo, slated for June 21 to July 19 this year, and Lesotho – who also play Cape Verde – need victory to secure space in the competition.

A win for Lesotho would make them qualify for the quarterfinals –even if Taifa Stars win their Uganda Cranes match.

For more than two weeks, football stakeholders – including the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) and the government – have been rallying soccer fans to attend tomorrow’s match and heartily cheer-on the national team.

But, first and foremost, the Taifa players must try their hardest if they are to do their best and register victory.

A defeat in front of thousands of ‘home’ fans could all but dash Tanzanians’ hopes of reaching the quarterfinals – let alone reach the finals and make history in international football.

National pride is at stake here, and victory tomorrow is imperative for Taifa Stars – thereby earning Tanzania the respect it craves and, arguably, deserves.