Taiwo Adelu
Interim coach of Tanzania’s senior national team, Charles Boniface Mkwassa, has declared that though his Taifa Stars are underdogs, they are battle ready to shock highly rated Nigeria’s Super Eagles when both teams meet in the 5 September Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifying match scheduled for Dar es Salaam.
Nkwassa, who replaced sacked Dutchman Mart Noorj, said the bulk of his team who are mainly home-based view the match as a do-or-die affair and had since begun serious preparation for the qualifier which they believe they could win.
“This will be a big game against Nigeria and we are ready to face them,” said Mkwasa, a former Tanzanian international.
“We know that Nigeria are one of the big teams in Africa. Though people may see us as underdogs, they should not that forget anything can happen on the field of play, and it is good that we are playing on our home ground. Our focus is to win this match,” he said on a Lagos sports radio station early Wednesday from the capital city of Tanzania, Dar es Salaam.
Charles Boniface Mkwassa
According to Mkwassa, he is not under pressure to face a Nigerian team with a new handler, Sunday Oliseh, who holds a good certificate in football coaching.
“I know the pedigree of Nigeria’s new coach. I respect him a lot but we’ve never met. Football is played on the field and I’m expecting to meet him on 5 September,” he said.
The coach recalled the last time he faced Nigeria as a player in a World Cup qualifier inside the National Stadium in Lagos, saying, “I knew Nigeria when I was a player, that was the time we played the Eagles in Lagos. I could remember one of the players then, Muda Lawal. We held Nigeria to a 1-1 draw. It was a …Read More
Source:: PM Newspaper
