Stars coach plots CHAN success

NATIONAL soccer team, Taifa Stars interim head coach Salum Mayanga has presented a six-month programme, which seeks to prepare the side for the 2018 African Nations Championship (CHAN) qualifiers.

The Tanzania Football Federation (TFF), Information and Communication Officer, Alfred Lucas, said yesterday in Dar es Salaam that the programme provided by the former Mtibwa Sugar coach also comprises the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2019 Cameroon qualifiers.

“Mayanga has presented his programme ready for the CHAN campaign, whose finals will be hosted in Kenya and we have started working on it,” said Lucas. Lucas said that the six-month programme presented to the federation by coach Mayanga, comprises the team’s training camps and friendly matches ahead of the CHAN tournament, which strictly involve players featuring in local leagues. He also said that the former Mtibwa Sugar coach is tasked to recommend on whether the trial matches will be played at home or outside the country.

“We have received the six-month programme from Coach Mayanga, but where the trial matches should take place that will depends on the coach’s recommendations to the federation,” Lucas said.

Mayanga, who replaced Charles Boniface Mkwasa after the latter’s contract ended is facing a daunting task to revive Taifa Stars which have found themselves rocked in lowest FIFA ranking positions in recent months.

Taifa Stars have dropped two spots to 158th in the latest world rankings, released by FIFA in Zurich, Switzerland. Following a period of inactivity the Taifa Stars have found themselves occupying 49th spot on the continent out of 55 nations.

The Tanzanian outfit collected 152 points, a drop of two points from the previous 154. Taifa Stars recorded their worst position at the end of the year in a decade after they finished the year 2016 in 156th position.

Their poor ranking owed to Taifa Stars’ inability to post positive results in AFCON and World Cup qualifiers. And, the task ahead for Mayanga is monumental and his programme should help turn around the team’s fortunes.

Taifa Stars will kick off its campaign for the 2018 CHAN finals against Rwanda ‘Amavubi’ between July 14 and 16 at home and the return leg match will be held in Kigali between July 21 and 23 this year. The winner of the two legged match will cruise into the third round of the qualifiers, whereby it will face the winner of the match between Uganda and South Sudan or Somalia, who are scheduled to play in the preliminary round.

Tanzania under Brazilian tactician Marcio Maximo managed to qualify for the CHAN finals for the first time in 2009 in Ivory Coast.

Unfortunately, the team was eliminated in the preliminary stage. In the AFCON 2019 qualifiers, Tanzania has been pooled in group L alongside Uganda, Cape Verde and Lesotho. Winners from each group of the 2019 AFCON qualifiers will book a ticket for the AFCON finals to be hosted in Cameroon, who are the tournament defending champions.

Cameroon beat Egypt ‘Pharaohs’ 2-0 in this year’s finals held in Gabon to be crowned the new continental champions. The last time Tanzania qualified for the AFCON finals was in 1980 in the finals held in Nigeria.