Twiga Stars face Ivorians in must-win Afcon match
Twiga Stars players train ahead of their Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) match against Cote d’Ivoire, which will take place at the Azam Complex today. PHOTO | COURTESY
What you need to know:
- The match, which will kickoff at 4pm, is a must win for the Tanzanian girls who should win 3-0 to advance to the second round of qualifiers
Dar es Salaam. The Tanzania national women’s football team, Twiga Stars, clash with Cote d’Ivoire in a Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) match at the Azam Complex today.
The match, which will kickoff at 4pm, is a must win for the Tanzanian girls who should win 3-0 to advance to the second round of qualifiers. The finals will be played in Morocco next year.
In the first leg match, which was in Abidjan, Twiga Stars lost 2-0.
The winner between Twiga Stars and Cote d’Ivoire will meet the winners between Djibouti and Togo slated for November 27 and the return leg on December 5.
Twiga Stars head coach Bakari Shime said all his players were in good shape ahead of the match and called on all Tanzanians to rally behind the team.
Shime admitted that they face an uphill task to overturn the first leg result as their opponents are good and also targeting qualifying for the next stage.
“We are satisfied with our preparations for the match; my players are ready for the battle and have promised to fight till the last drop of their sweat, and we want to qualify for the next stage,” he said.
“We are really facing tough assignments, but our focus is on eliminating the Ivorian side and qualifying for the next round. We are really serious about this, as we target qualifying for the Afcon finals.”
He stressed that all mistakes that caused them to lose an away match have been rectified.
“We have a committed team with good players who are highly motivated and understand their responsibility as football players. I call on all fans to attend the match and cheer the team,” he said.
According to the draw, Morocco, by virtue of being the hosts, will not engage in the qualifiers.
The reigning champions, South Africa, along with the third-place finishers, Zambia, will only engage in the qualifiers during the second round.
The fixtures show that Senegal will host Mozambique while South Sudan will meet Egypt away, and eleven-time African champions Nigeria were drawn against Sao Tome and Principe.
