DAR ES SALAAM: NATIONAL football team – ‘Taifa Stars’ Coach, Hemed Suleiman has highlighted the need to enhance finishing skills to strengthen their performance ahead of Tuesday’s match against the DR Congo at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam.
Coach Suleiman gave the remarks shortly after arriving in Dar es Salaam yesterday.
Taifa Stars have had a solid start to their African Cup of Nations (AFCON) campaign, recording a goalless draw against Ethiopia and an away 2-1 victory over Guinea. However, they faced a setback on Thursday with a 1-0 loss to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Despite the disappointment, Coach Suleiman is confident that his team can perform better in next week’s encounter against DRC, marking their fourth game in the campaign.
Currently, in Group H, DRC lead with nine points, while Tanzania sits in second place with four points. Ethiopia follows in third spot with one point, and Guinea are at the bottom with no point.
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“We created numerous opportunities during the match, but our forwards were not sharp enough in front of goal. We lacked the finishing touch on those chances, and that is an area we need to improve,” Suleiman said.
Reflecting on Thursday’s defeat, Coach Suleiman stated; “We are training to improve where things went wrong. Football is a team effort, and we cannot point fingers to any of the players, they generally did a good job.
“In the match against Guinea, we celebrated our victory together as a team. Now that we have lost, we must continue to support each other. It doesn’t matter how we took the defeat; what matters is that we learn from our mistakes and come together as one committed unit, fighting for our country’s glory,” he added