TAIFA STARS VS IVORY COAST

Tanzania (Taifa Stars) had a very tough test against Ivory Coast on 16th June 2013.  The mighty Ivory Coast squad landed in Dar es Salaam to assure themselves for a chance to play in the best 10 teams whereby the 5 teams would have to be found for Brazil tournament in 2014.

Ivory Coast, The elephants had all 11 players in the starting line-up playing in European clubs. When they come together, it becomes so hard to beat them. Only 2 Tanzanians in their squad play outside, for TP Mazembe in Congo DRC. The two players of TP Mazembe are Mbwana Aly Samatta and his teammate Thomas Ulimwengu “The Buffalo”.

Tanzania was playing with a number 1 team in all over Africa. The elephants are 13th the world. This was just like a very hard national examination for the Taifa Stars. Gervinho was chasing in the left wing like Usain Bolt. The Taifa Stars defenders had a very tough moment to withstand the Elephants attacks.

Amri Kiemba scored a very early goal for Taifa Stars but it did not stay for so long as in the 13th minute the Elephants equalized.

Some highlights on Taifa Stars vs Ivory Coast.

The Taifa Stars central defender Kevin Yondani played so hard and because of him The Ivorians did not score more than 4 goals.

Yaya Toure did not touch the ball many times, but the few balls he utilized converted into 2 goals. One goal of Yaya came from a penalty spot, and the other came from an indirect kick. The second goal of Yaya Toure was very interesting. Yaya knew that in the defense were some mistakes. One of the mistakes was that on the wall, there were short players standing. Then the other mistake was from the fact that Tanzania defenders lacked experience in defending free kicks. The goal keeper did not do anything, only to find the ball in the net.

Thomas Ulimwengu scored a very nice goal in the 34th minute after finishing a nice cross from the Taifa Stars defender, Shomari Kapombe. The Tanzania mid-fielders Salum Abubakar, Frank Domayo and Mwinyi Kazimoto did a remarkable job as in the last quarter before the end of the game the ivorians were searching for the ball like a watchmen looking for a thief with a torch at night.

Just before the last minute of the game the Tanzanians found themselves in a serious unexpected counter attack chasing which rewarded the ivorians the last goal to conceal a 4-2 victory in Dar es Salaam.

The Ivorian player who scored an equalizer in the 13th minute plays in Russia for Anzhi Makhachkala. This is Lacina Traore. Lacina received a pass in the penalty box from the left wing, and it was easy for him to put the ball in the net.

The elephants victory means Tanzania have now been eliminated from the Brazil 2014 campaign. It is high time that the Tanzania youngsters are prepared for 2018 world Cup in Russia.

In July 12th Taifa Stars will play another game vs Uganda in the CHAN competitions. CHAN is a special competition for African players who play in within the local leagues in their respective countries.