Twiga Stars face Botswana in Olympic games qualifier

Dar es Salaam. The national women’s football team (Twiga Stars) today face Botswana in the return leg of the second round of the African qualifiers for the next year’s Women’s Olympic Football Tournament in Paris, France.

The match has been scheduled to take place at Botswana’s National Stadium from 6pm Tanzania time.

Twiga Stars head coach Bakari Shime said his players are ready for the clash and target victory.

The winners between Twiga Stars and Botswana will face the winners between the DR Congo and South Africa on February 19 and 28 next year.

The team may face Twiga Stars, who won 2-0 in the first leg encounter held at Azam Complex last week. Shime said his players have trained well and expects strong opposition from the three players, Anastazia Katunzi, Amina Bilal, and Fatuma Issa, who have recovered ahead of the encounter.

“All players are ready for the match. We are yet to qualify, despite the fact that we won 2-0 at the Azam Complex. It will be a tough encounter, and my players are well focused. I am proud of having committed players who target making all Tanzanians happy,” said Shime.

He said they faced strong opposition in the first match held at Azam Complex, despite their 2-0 victory.

“We spotted some mistakes and managed to rectify them all before we travelled to Gaborone. I believe we will not let them have command of the game. We want to qualify, and in order to achieve that, we need to fight hard and win,” he said.

Africa will be represented by five nations at the Paris Games. Records show that five African countries, namely Cameroon, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, have participated in the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament that was held for the first time in Atlanta in 1996.

As the two spots for the 2024 Paris edition remain up for grabs, CAF’s representatives will be known in April 2024 ahead of tough assignments with a focus on the countries that played at the recent World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.