Stars face Morocco in tough World Cup qualifying match

Dar es Salaam. The national football team (Taifa Stars) today face Morocco in their second match of the World Cup qualifiers at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium.

The group E match has been scheduled to kick off at 10pm Tanzanian time, and Taifa Stars will be targeting a good result in order to continue shining in the FIFA World Cup that will be co-hosted by three different countries for the first time in history.

The countries are Canada, Mexico, and the USA, which are set to share hosting duties in the ground-breaking edition of the sport's greatest event.

Tanzania are now placed second in Group E with three points following their 1-0 victory away against Niger, while Zambia are at the top with three points following their 4-1 victory against Congo Brazzaville in the first match.

Morocco has no point after Eritrea pulled out of the matches. Morocco was scheduled to start the World Cup qualifier campaign against Eritrea.

Tanzania is seeking to qualify for the World Cup finals for the first time, as they are going to meet Morocco for the fifth time in their history.

In the past four matches, Taifa Stars won one match, while the other three were won by Morocco.

Records show that Taifa Stars managed a 3-1 victory against Morocco in a World Cup qualifier duel played on March 24, 2013, and the rest of the matches were won by Morocco.

In the return leg, Morocco won 2-1 on June 8, 2013.

Other matches scored were Morocco 3-1 in the match played on October 9, 2011 in the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers, and on October 9, 2010, Tanzania lost 0-1 at home in another AFCON qualifiers’ duel.

Taifa Stars players are optimistic about coming out with a good result in today’s encounter after training intensively.

The team head coach, Adel Amrouche, said his players are in the right frame of mind heading into the match to maul their opponents.

“Everything is okay in camp, as every player is eager to face Morocco. They are simply in good shape, and I believe we will come out with smiling faces,” said Amrouche.

Team defender Bakari Mwamnyeto said they are ready for the clash against one of the African giants and called all fans to turn at the stadium to give them support.

Mwamnyeto said they have mountains to climb as Morocco is a strong team on the continent, having qualified for the last four World Cup finals in Qatar.

"We are facing a tough team despite the fact that our target is to do well. We need to show our best in order to win,” said Mwamnyeto.

Stars striker Simon Msuva, who features for JS Kabylie of Algeria, predicted a tough encounter but said they are ready to face the challenge.

Msuva called upon fellow Tanzanians to give them support since they are representing the country in the competition.

“We are aware of our commitment, and that’s why we are here to represent them in the encounter. There are many Tanzanians behind us, and we call upon them to give us moral support,” said Msuva.