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It's high time our Taifa Stars geared up for AFCON 2027, the journey begins now
Taifa Stars' Simon Msuva wheels off to celebrate after scoring against Zambia in the 11th minute of ongoing Afcon tournament in Ivory Coast. Photo | File
What you need to know:
- Despite of being eliminated in the AFCON 2023, there are great lessons learned to our players (individually, and as a team), the technical bench, and all the leaders responsible for football.
In the World of Football, 2023 was a remarkable year for the citizens and the Government of Tanzania.
The reason is, firstly, our National football team, Taifa Stars, qualified for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Ivory Coast finals after they secured a 0-0 draw away to Algeria on 7th September 2023.
This was the 3rd time for Taifa Stars to qualify to the finals since the establishment of AFCON in 1957.
The other two periods our team qualified for the same was in 1980 and 2019.
Secondly, the 2023 is remarkable year because, on 27th September 2023, in Cairo, Egypt, the President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Dr. Patrice Motsepe, announced the East Africa "Pamoja" Bid (joint host) for Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda as the host countries for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON 2027).
Back to the AFCON 2023 finals, the tournament commenced on 13th January 2024, and the final is set on 11th February 2024, when the champion of Africa will be crowned.
Note that out of 24 national teams that participated in the tournament, only 16 teams advanced to the next round.
Our national football team, Taifa Stars, is one of the eight teams eliminated in the group stages.
It ranked the last in Group F with two points, we lost 3-0 to Morocco, drew 1-1 with Zambia, and 0-0 with DR Congo.
Out of these three matches played, our greatest expectation of winning was when we played against Zambia.
Our players had impressive performances in the last two matches, against Zambia and Congo.
If we could win one of these two matches, we would have qualified for the 16 top round.
As a football fan, like for many others, we felt very disappointed after being eliminated.
Yes, they say, when wishes were horses, beggars would ride! What if our Taifa stars had qualified for the top 16?
I guess our football-crazy nation would have gone gaga! I pray and hope, one day, this dream will come true.
This is only possible if we start investing seriously in developing the talents of children and youth.
Despite of being eliminated in the AFCON 2023, there are great lessons learned to our players (individually, and as a team), the technical bench, and all the leaders responsible for football.
For now, let’s watch the 16 qualified national teams as they play. After the final for AFCON on 11th February 2024, the focus for every nation will be on the AFCON 2027.
As the host for AFCON 2027 (Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda), let’s start preparing our team now so that at least in that tournament, we qualify for the 16 top round, if not for the quarter-finals.
As a country, we are proud to have several potential players in our national team.
For instance, our own Mbwana Samatta, the 2015 African Player of the Year based in Africa and the only Tanzanian who has played in the English Premier League and scored on his debut for Aston Villa in 2020.
We also have Simon Msuva, Novatus Dismas, Ibrahim Hamad Bacca, Kibu Denis, Bakari Nondo, Mzamiru Yasin, Aishi Manula, Mohamed Hussein, Himid Mao, Haji Mnoga among others.
Let’s start investing seriously in our national team for the AFCON 2027.
Our government and key football stakeholders should work together to ensure our team moves to the top stages.
Our prayers are with our team, and hopeful in the AFCON 2027, our team will make us more proud.
My all-time advice, let’s learn from our mistakes, both in football and in all aspects of life.
Whenever you want to succeed, you need to have passion on what you do; stay focused, determined, and being a hard worker!
