Stars face Mongolia in FIFA Series

AZBERBAIJAN: TAIFA Stars Interim Coach Hemed Suleiman has said they are targeting to produce a win against Mongolia in their last 2024 FIFA Series match at Dalga Arena in Baku, Azerbaijan today.

The two teams are yet to celebrate a triumph after losing their opening matches as Tanzania went down 1-0 to Bulgaria which Mongolia suffered a 1-0 upset from hosts Azerbaijan.

Speaking at a pre-match briefing yesterday, Suleiman insisted that they are well prepared to register their first success and that each player is looking forward to the game.

“We have managed to sort out some of the mistakes that made us to lose the first encounter and we cannot afford to suffer another defeat in a row,” he said.

He added that they have much respect of their opponents (Mongolia) as they play good football and he had a chance to watch them when they played against Azerbaijan.

“Of course, it will be another competitive match for both of us especially after failing to shine in our opening games hence people should expect a good game,” he said.

Taifa Stars midfielder, Feisal Salum, said they are in high spirits ahead of the match and that they will try to put in practice whatever they have learnt during training sessions.

He admitted that in their previous game against Bulgaria, he missed several scoring chance and that as such, he is ready to utilise well any scoring opportunities that will emerge in today’s clash.

“I was not lucky on that day…but we have worked on such setbacks and I am sure that in tomorrow’s (today) match, I will be efficient on goal target,” he said.

Meanwhile, the friendly competition was first announced as a FIFA initiative in December 2022 under the name “FIFA World Series” and later confirmed by FIFA President Gianni Infantino on 16 March 2023 following his re-election to the post during the 73rd FIFA Congress in Kigali, Rwanda.

The competition brings together men’s national teams from its six confederations in a series of friendly tournaments during the FIFA match window in March of every even-numbered year. It provides FIFA’s member associations with “key playing opportunities” by allowing them to more regularly play teams from other confederations which they would otherwise not face, allowing for greater technical development opportunities.

It is also intended to provide member associations with additional commercial opportunities and exposure.

The 2024 edition is a pilot phase for the competition and in each series apart from Egypt (which was a late addition), all interconfederation fixtures will be the first international meeting between the sides.