TZ girls psyched up for Cosafa Cup
Dar es Salaam. The national Under-20 women’s soccer team, The Tanzanite, leaves for South Africa tomorrow for the 2019 Cosafa Championships.
The Tanzanite will compete as a guest team in the tournament, which kicks off on Thursday at Nelson Mandela Bay.
Twenty players have been undergoing intensive training for nearly two months in the city under the tutelage of coach, Bakari Shime. Most of the young ladies making up Shime’s squad were born in 2003.
The squad includes 15-year-old striker Aisha Masaka and midfielder Irene Kisisa, as well as a number of players who only turned 16 a few months ago.
Speaking to The Citizen yesterday, Shime said apart of eyeing the title, he also wants to use the tournament as a beneficial warm-up ahead of Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) and World Cup qualifiers.
“Our target is to perform impressively in the competition,” he said.
“We have trained well and good enough, my players have been responding positively to my instructions during our training sessions.”
“They are in high spirits, raring to give their opponents a run for their money,” he added.
Tanzania has been drawn in Group-A alongside Botswana, eSwatini (formerly Swaziland) and Zambia.
The Tanzanian girls will launch their Cosafa Under-20 Championship campaign against Botswana on August 2.
They swing back into action two days later against eSwatini before taking on Zambia on August 6 in what will be their final group stage clash. Two top teams in each pool will advance to the semifinals.
The Tanzanite are seeking to become the first guest side at the Cosafa tournament to snatch the trophy.
Women’s football is on the rise in Tanzania, although the country has attempted to qualify for the Africa Women’s Under-20 Cup of Nations in three editions only.
