The year 2008 is crucial for Taifa Stars as far as securing qualifier berths for both African Nations and World Cup 2010 championships.

If there is anything that can excite and forget about the past hiccups and eventually stay in peace and serenity in Tanzania, it is the impending qualification to feature in at least any of the above named high profile soccer tournaments.

Lets we forget, our journey to South Africa is relatively not as simple as some soccer fans have started to predict and virtually they should dispel those illusions. It all boils down to proper planning and preparations.

The World Cup African qualifying competitions also double as the 2010 African Cup of Nations qualifying berth. South Africa is going to make history by being the first World Cup host to play in World Cup qualifiers since 1930.

South Africa qualifies automatically to the World Cup, but is grouped with Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea and Sierra Leone in qualifying matches, since they need to qualify separate for the African Cup of Nations.

If we don't make substantial preparations right now, certainly we are bound to nose dive and stay on the sidelines as spectators while miss both championships.

Tanzanians especially the football federation need to be psychologically prepared for the dynamics of these two competitions being wrapped up together.

TFF need to set a master plan that is comprehensive enough to make a breakthrough at least Taifa Stars would make appearance in one of the competitions in 2010.

The cost of missing both is unbearable taking into consideration of the agony that soccer fans have gone through during last year's African nations Cup qualifiers. We don't need to miss by a whisker, those time have already gone we need to sail through at all cost!

Looking critically at 2008 preparations for 2010 competitions, we have already seen our mistakes in the 2007 Challenge Cup and Nations Cup qualifiers. We are now set for more training including an impending Stars' tour of Brazil this year.

While Maximo has already declared the Stars' training tour of Brazil, what is the broad plan for 2010 World Cup and African Cup of Nations? Is the Brazilian tour enough to achieve and bridge the existing gap between Stars and the African nations Cup or World Cup stage?

Who selected Brazil as our training destination for 2010 World Cup and African Cup of Nations preparations? Was it a collaborative decision? What is the science behind the selection?

What are the gaps to fill in our trip in order to win against Cameroon, Cape Verde Island, and Mauritius? Was is it not the same team that freshly returned from Brazil and sent packing by Lions of Taranga last year? A 0-4 loss was it not a shame after spending millions on a Brazilian tour?

There is no question on the Brazilian soccer standard they are the best among the best in the World. Visiting Brazil should not be confused with cholera epidemic that one would easily be infected after being exposed to its victims! But what is the strategy to draw from the mighty Brazilians?

If we do not have a tactical and technical plan very little will be achieved from this trip. Exposing our players is of a paramount importance, but doing it intelligently makes a lot of economical, technical and operational sense.

One of our team's major problems during the 2007 CECAFA competition was our strikers becoming numb when facing the opponents' goal. Only four goals were scored in four matches while Rwanda scored past Djibouti nine goals in ninety minutes, an average of one goal in ten minutes!

Do we think training in Brazil will help us score goals? Why not go to a country with good scoring history, endurance, and agility such as Germany, Czech Republic or Italy? It's high time we digest what Maximo says and not just meet his interests that eventually bring in nightmares!

Brazilians are good in their context. For instance, they mix sports with other entertainment. That's their culture. They mix soccer with Samba. They mix martial arts with Capoeira dance. It is fun and nice to watch. Winning a soccer match in Brazil is probably not enough, unless you also entertain.

I remember way back when Simba Sports Club visited Brazil for training in 1983, they came back with Carnival Samba and Diagonal soccer playing styles. What part of Brazilian soccer will be our focus in this trip?

In evaluating the last training trip to Brazil, the team played six friendly matches. In those games they scored 5 goals and conceded 9 goals. This is an average of conceding 1.5 goals in a match and scoring 0.6 goals per match. The implication is that we are weak in the defence, midfield and upfront.

The complete results in our last trip to Brazil were; Drew 1-1 v Boavista, Lost 3-0 v Fluminense, Lost 1-0 v Tigres do Brasil, Won 3-0 v Olaria, Drew 1-1v Vasco da Gama and lost 3-0 v Estacio de Sa.

Critically speaking the results of our friendly matches in Brazil explain the results of our last matches in the African Cup of Nations qualifying tournament.

We scored only two goals in four matches after the trip to Brazil. We scored an away goal against Burkina Faso and the other versus Senegal in Mwanza. We achieved an average of 0.5 goals per match, which is not very different from the average score the team achieved in the friendly matches played in Brazil.

What should we expect from the next trip to Brazil? What are we going to learn which will be different from the past? TFF and Maximo should consider a plan ahead of flying back to Brazil.

I remember Senegal's coach Henri Kasperczak when asked if he knows Tanzanian soccer, he said he does not, but he was aware the team was in Brazil for training.

This implies that they trained seriously because they were in Brazil. We need to be aware that Stars' trip to Brazil might trigger other teams in the group to train hard before clashing with Stars.

The starting point before viewing the qualifiers could be to know our opponents. Which teams match our styles? How can we train with those teams? This information could tell us where exactly to train, for how long and against which teams instead of rushing to board a Rio de Janeiro bound flight.

We have less than six months (180 days) for the preparations. We need an intensive short term plan for scoring, defending and marshalling midfield ahead of the potential qualifiers that kick off in June.

If we go to Brazil with an intention of convincing their national team to train in our ultra modern stadium on their way to South Africa, that's good and everybody knows the economic and cultural dynamics of that.

However, these teams select stopover countries strategically, based on certain criteria, including weather. The environment needs to be similar to where they will be playing. Dar es Salaam would certainly not meet Brazilian convenience as World cup will be played in June where South Africa will be at the helm of winter weather.

If we need a certain team to stopover we must plan for that. We must organize ourselves, and put our priorities straight and sell our products to the country we intend to.

By the way, if we manage to get hold of Brazil to train in our ultra modern stadium on their way to South Africa, are we saying our Taifa Stars will not be training in the modern stadium for their trip to South Africa or what are we trying to say? Are Taifa Stars out of the World Cup event before attempting the qualifiers?

The government has invested a lot in terms of time and resources for this team. It is important that we work professionally to support their efforts.

Together we will realize the dream of seeing Taifa Stars in the World Cup or African Cup of Nations in 2010. Let us embark on plan for success.