Tanzanite Queens face Canada

CANADA: TANZANIA’S Tanzanite Queens take on Canada today in a must-win Women’s World Cup clash as they battle to keep their hopes of advancing to the next stage.

The Tanzanian side has endured a difficult start to the tournament in Poland, losing both of its opening Group-stage matches.

Tanzanite Queens began their campaign with a 4-1 defeat to Brazil before suffering another heavy loss, going down 5-1 to England on September 8.

Canada currently has one point, meaning Tanzania’s final Group-stage match could prove decisive in determining the teams’ chances of progressing.

With no points from their opening two matches, Tanzania now needs victory against Canada to give itself a chance of progressing to the next stage.

Head coach Bakari Shime is optimistic that the team can still turn its fortunes around, saying a win over Canada could open the door to qualification.

“The team has used the remaining training sessions to correct mistakes exposed in the first two matches, particularly defensive weaknesses on the right flank,”

“We will return to training and work on the mistakes we made in the first two matches, especially on the right side, which has given our opponents opportunities,” Shime said.

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Despite the two defeats, Shime said he had seen significant improvement against England, compared with the opening match against Brazil.

“Despite losing the matches, I am satisfied with the team’s performance because we improved in the second game compared with the first, when we failed to follow instructions and fear affected our performance,” he said Tanzania must win to have any chance of advancing to the knockout stage.

A victory would give them three points and keep alive their hopes of finishing third and qualifying as one of the four best third-placed teams.

The top two teams in each of the six groups qualify automatically, with the four best third-placed sides completing the knockout-stage line-up.