Stars upbeat to silence Zambia
IVORY COAST: TAIFA Stars players remain optimistic to do well against Zambia in their second Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) match tomorrow.
The country’s envoys are searching for a come-back after a 3-0 defeat by Morocco in their opening fixture, hence finding tomorrow as an opportunity to turn things around.
“Our group is still wide open and each team has an opportunity to make a break-through. We now focus on the second match against Zambia,” said the team’s centre back Bakari Mwamnyeto.
He added: “They (Zambia) are also a good team just like us and we will try our best to record good results over them to revamp our chances of going into the next stage.” Mwamnyeto who is Young Africans skipper called Tanzanians to rally behind them throughout the competition, insisting that the support is important.
His teammate, Himid Mao also reiterated that the national team are positive and morale is high among the players to get convincing results over Zambia.
“The past game is over, we have lost three points from possible nine points, now we need to battle for the remaining six points by ensuring that we do well over Zambia. “We have to ensure that we do whatever necessary to overcome Zambia, and by doing that we will ignite our chances of reaching in the quarter-finals,” he said.
On the other hand, Zambian player Clatous Chama predicted a tough match versus Tanzania, saying both sides are looking at it to stamp convincing results. “We both remain with two matches, of which we need to utilise well and this is what makes the encounter tough,” Chama said.
He was not featured when his side secured a 1-1 draw against the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in their opening encounter of Group F, a result he said was fair to them.
After facing Zambia, Taifa Stars will wind up group mission by taking on DRC on Wednesday next week. As it stands in Group F, Morocco lead with three points generated after a 3-0 triumph over Tanzania while DRC are placed on second slot courtesy of one point and so are third placed Zambia. Tanzania sit at the bottom place point-less and win-less.
It is the third time that Tanzania compete at the biggest football showdown in the continent, as Coach Adel Amrouche is eager to create a record of becoming the first trainer to guide Stars to their first ever victory at AFCON finals.
