‘Stars set to finish off The Cranes’

TAIFA Stars Assistant Coach Hemed Morocco said his charges are well prepared to take on Uganda as they interface at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium today.

It is a fourth group F Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifying match as both sides are keen to claim maximum points to stay on a good path in the race for qualification.

A win to the Stars.,will drive them to 7 points on the table with two games in hand, hence a good chance for them to qualify for  AFCON finals.

On the other hand, a loss will Uganda Cranes  practically out of the qualification race as they will still have one point from four fixtures.

But, in a pre-match briefing on Monday, Morocco reiterated that the game is not going to be easy as Uganda Cranes want to avenge the 1-0 upset they suffered in the previous game.

“We are aware that they are also well prepared for the match but for us, all precautions have been considered to register convincing results from the home venue,” he said.

He added that heading into the match, they have created another strategy than the one used when they met in Egypt last Friday.

“Of course, in football, each game is different. There are some shortcomings which surfaced in our first match and they have been sorted out to avoid re-occurrence,” he said.

On his part, Star’s striker Simon Msuva cemented that they are aware of the importance of the game and that they are well prepared to fight for the country.

“For us to get this chance of playing for the national team is a big thing and our obligation is to ensure that we play hard to enable the team to stamp victory,” he said.

Moreover, Msuva who scored the solitary goal against Uganda in the first leg duel acknowledged President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s pledge to buy each goal for 10m/- is a big motivation for them.

“What she has done is a good thing and on behalf of my teammates, I declare that we are not going to let her down,” he said.

For the Cranes, Head Coach Micho said they have come here to play against their brothers saying they will try to lean on something that will lead them to embrace happiness.

“Our brothers took advantage to win at a neutral venue, congratulations to them. For tomorrow’s (today) match, we know that they will have the full backing of their supporters, however, as a coach, I have the highest degree of trust in my players and that we are going to turn the corner to get the results we want,” he said.

His captain Emmanuel Okwi also commented that they have come here for the purpose of recording positive results and that each member of their squad is eager to achieve that target.

“Of course, we lost our previous game but that has nothing to do with our game tomorrow,” Okwi said.