Serengeti Girls play Canada in crucial World Cup duel
Tanzania national women U-17 players train ahead of the today’s group D encounter against Canada in India. PHOTO | COURTESY
What you need to know:
- The match has been scheduled to kick-off at 5pm Tanzanian time at the Dr DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai and Serengeti Girls need victory in order to qualify into the quarter finals
Dar es Salaam. Tanzania’s Under-17 women’s national football team (Serengeti Girls) today face Canada in the decisive encounter of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup finals in India this afternoon.
The match has been scheduled to kick-off at 5pm Tanzanian time at the Dr DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai.
The encounter would be officiated by Thailand referee Pansa Chaisanit who would be assisted by Supawan Hinthong and Nuannid Donjangreed. The fourth official is Edita Mirabidova.
The same day and time, Japan who lead the group D will face France in another decisive encounter scheduled to be held at Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in the city of Margao.
Serengeti Girls need victory in order to qualify into the quarter finals of the competition scheduled to start on October 21.
So far, Serengeti Girls are placed in the second position with three points while Canada are placed at the bottom with one point.
The victory for Serengeti Girls will make the team qualify into the knockout stage even if France wins against Japan. France have so far collected one point and the victory will make them to garner four points.
Serengeti Girls head coach Bakari Shime said all her players were in good shape ahead of the game and was optimistic that they will come out with good results.
Shime said they were expecting a strong opposition from Canada who also need victory in order to book space in the next stage.
He said the preparations they have had, gives them the confidence of doing their best.
“We have prepared well for the encounter and my players are ready to face the challenge of the Canadian team,” said Shime.
According to Shime, Tanzania was among strong teams with talented players who wants to do their best in the competition.
“I have studied Canada ahead of the match. It is a good team and we need to stretch our muscles in order to win the match.
All the mistakes that we made in the encounter against France have been rectified and players have been motivated with the current status and want to make history in the competition despite the fact that we are competing for the first time,” he said.
