The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)
Majuto Omary
10 October 2008
Taifa Stars players Athumani Iddi and Jabir Azizi in action during a training session in Dar es Salaam yesterday.Stars will host Cape verde in a 2010 World Cup/African Nations Cup qualifier tomorrow.
Information, Culture and Sports minister George Mkuchika will lead thousands of Tanzanians in cheering Taifa Stars during their World Cup/African Nations Cup qualifying match against Cape Verde at Dar es Salaam's New Main National Stadium tomorrow.
Sports deputy minister Joel Bendera and Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) president Leodegar Tenga will meet the team today at their camp in the city.
TFF secretary-general Fredrick Mwakalebela said Mkuchika had agreed to attend the match and give Stars the moral support they need to beat Cape Verde and climb up Fifa rankings.
Stars are already out of the running for the 2010 Nations Cup finals and World Cup, but the home team will be out to avenge their 1-0 away defeat by Cape Verde earlier this year.
Mwakalebela said the game would also be part of Stars' preparations for their match against Sudan in the qualifiers of the African Nations Cup finals for locally based players.
He added that soccer fans should look forward to gripping action tomorrow, saying Cape Verde were a good team that boasted several players playing their club soccer in Europe.
"It will be a good build-up for Stars ahead of their crucial game against Sudan. Stars will be playing at home, so there is no reason why they shouldn't win by a comfortable margin on Saturday," he said.
Stars head coach Marcio Maximo said all players were in good condition ahead of the encounter.
He said he used the past week to rectify mistakes that were apparent when Stars defeated Mauritius 4-1 last month and study videotapes of Stars' away loss to Cape Verde.
The Brazilian said Stars were confident of registering a comfortable win against Cape Verde, but said the team were not underrating their opponents.
"I am not underrating Cape Verde it is a good team. We played very well against them in the first match but lost and this is our chance to beat them."
Maximo said young players in the team had shown "tremendous" improvement in recent weeks, adding that he expected them to put on a good display tomorrow.
Cape Verde are due to arrive this morning from Portugal for tomorrow's game. The visiting contingent comprises of 26 players and six officials.
Stars upbeat ahead of Cape Verde tie
By Majuto Omary
Information, Culture and Sports minister George Mkuchika will lead thousands of Tanzanians in cheering Taifa Stars during their World Cup/African Nations Cup qualifying match against Cape Verde at Dar es Salaam's New Main National Stadium tomorrow.
Sports deputy minister Joel Bendera and Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) president Leodegar Tenga will meet the team today at their camp in the city.
TFF secretary-general Fredrick Mwakalebela said Mkuchika had agreed to attend the match and give Stars the moral support they need to beat Cape Verde and climb up Fifa rankings.
Stars are already out of the running for the 2010 Nations Cup finals and World Cup, but the home team will be out to avenge their 1-0 away defeat by Cape Verde earlier this year.
Mwakalebela said the game would also be part of Stars' preparations for their match against Sudan in the qualifiers of the African Nations Cup finals for locally based players.
He added that soccer fans should look forward to gripping action tomorrow, saying Cape Verde were a good team that boasted several players playing their club soccer in Europe.
"It will be a good build-up for Stars ahead of their crucial game against Sudan. Stars will be playing at home, so there is no reason why they shouldn't win by a comfortable margin on Saturday," he said.
Stars head coach Marcio Maximo said all players were in good condition ahead of the encounter.
He said he used the past week to rectify mistakes that were apparent when Stars defeated Mauritius 4-1 last month and study videotapes of Stars' away loss to Cape Verde.
The Brazilian said Stars were confident of registering a comfortable win against Cape Verde, but said the team were not underrating their opponents.
"I am not underrating Cape Verde it is a good team. We played very well against them in the first match but lost and this is our chance to beat them."
Maximo said young players in the team had shown "tremendous" improvement in recent weeks, adding that he expected them to put on a good display tomorrow.
Cape Verde are due to arrive this morning from Portugal for tomorrow's game. The visiting contingent comprises of 26 players and six officials.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 The Citizen. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
