Upbeat Stars kick off Afcon campaign against Morocco
What you need to know:
- The match has been scheduled to take place at the San Laurent Pokou Stadium in San-Pedro, Ivory Coast, at 8pm Tanzanian time
Dar es Salaam. Tanzania's national football team, Taifa Stars, today face Morocco in their first match of Group F in the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals.
The encounter has been scheduled to take place at the Laurent Pokou Stadium in San-Pedro, Ivory Coast, at 8pm Tanzanian time.
The duel is expected to be tough and most thrilling, as each team will be targeting victory.
Taifa Stars head coach Abdel Amrouche said he is optimistic about getting the best result and leaving a mark at the flagship event.
He said his players are in good form and ready to counter the Moroccans, who are under the tutelage of former Morocco defender Walid Regragui, who led the team in the Qatar World Cup semifinals in 2022.
Amrouche said despite the Moroccan team being made up of famous players who feature in various European leagues, his squad boasts gifted players who want to prove their worth in the encounter.
He said they want to make history in the tournament by doing their best in Group F.
“It is not going to be an easy match, but a tough one for us. We are here to compete and record the best results. We need to do our best despite facing a strong opposition,” said Amrouche.
Taifa Stars are under skipper Mbwana Samatta, who has so far scored 22 goals for the national team from 75 matches, and Simon Msuva with 21 goals from 87 matches.
Morocco are under Hakim Ziyech, who plays for Galatasaray of Turkey, Youssef En Nesyri (Sevilla of Spain with 17 goals for Morocco), Ayoub El Kaabi with 10 goals and El Kaani who plays for Olympiacos of Greece.
The two teams’ statistics
The two teams met five times since 2010, and Morocco recorded four wins against Tanzania once. The first match was played on September 10, 2010, and Morocco won 1-0 at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam. Morocco also won 3-1 on October 9, 2011 in Morocco.
The two matches were in the Afcon qualifiers. Taifa Stars’ sole win over Morocco was on March 24, 2013 at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium after recording 3-1 and later Tanzania lost 1-2 on June 8, 2013 in Morocco and later lost 0-2 at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium on November 21 last year.
The three matches were held during the World Cup qualifiers. Statistics show that Tanzania have scored five goals and conceded nine goals while Morocco have won five matches with nine goals and conceded five in the same total number of the matches played.
