The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)
Majuto Omary
22 September 2008
The Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) has said it takes the crucial final play off of the World Cup/Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match against Cape Verde very seriously.
The match is expected to be held at the new National Stadium in Dar es Salaam on October 11.
TFF secretary general Fredrick Mwakalebela said yesterday that Taifa Stars will not allow Cape Verde use it as a bridge to reach the top 20 of the tournament by beating the team at the home soil.
Mwakalebela said the match is important to Taifa Stars as victory will enable them to improve its standing in the FIFA rating.
He said even the coach realizes the importance of the match although Taifa Stars failed to qualify for South Africa and Angola competition, respectively.
"We won't be ready to be stairs for Cape Verde to reach the top 20 teams. We will play with determination in order to win and improve our standing in world soccer governing body ratings," said Mwalabela.
He said Stars will start residential training on October 4 in the city with same players who featured in the match against Mauritius.
He said head coach Marcio Maximo may not make changes in the squad in order to maintain the winning steak like the Mauritius encounter.
He added that the match is regarded as a launching pad for the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers for non professional players against Sudan later.
According to Mwakalebela, the match against Sudan is the toughest one as they want to qualify for the first established competition in the African continent.
"Sudan is good team. They are preparing for the encounter as we prepare too to ensure we defeat them as we did to Kenya's Harambee Stars and Uganda Cranes," he said.
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